OF  TMI 

UNIVERSITY 
"  califoSS 


Frontispiece. 


THEORY   AND    PRACTICE 


TEACHING 


THE   MOTIVES   AND    METHODS   OF 
GOOD  SCHOOL  KEEPING 


BY 

DAVID   P.   PAGE 


EDITED  BY 

E.    C.    BRANSON 

GEORGIA  STATE   NORMAL  SCHOOL 


oXX 


NEW  YORK-:.  CINCINNATI-:.  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


Copyright,  1899,  by 
AMERICAN   BOOK  COMPANY, 

TH.   AND   PR.   OF  TEACHING. 

w.  p.  3 


THE   AUTHOR'S    PREFACE 

Many  a  meritorious  book  has  failed  to  find  readers 
by  reason  of  a  toilsome  preface.  If  the  following  vol- 
ume meets  a  similar  fate,  whatever  its  merits  it  shall 
lack  a  like  excuse. 

This  work  has  had  its  origin  in  a  desire  to  contribute 
something  toward  elevating  an  important  and  rising 
profession.  Its  matter  comprises  the  substance  of  a 
part  of  the  course  of  lectures  addressed  to  the  classes 
of  the  Institution  under  my  charge,  during  the  past 
two  years.  Those  lectures,  unwritten  at  first,  were 
delivered  in  a  familiar,  colloquial  style,  —  their  main 
object  being  the  inculcation  of  such  practical  views  as 
would  best  promote  the  improvement  of  the  teacher. 
In  writing  the  matter  out  for  the  press,  the  same  style, 
to  considerable  extent,  has  been  retained, —  as  I  have 
written  with  an  aim  at  usefulness  rather  than  rhetorical 
effect. 

If  the  term  theory  in  the  title  suggests  to  any  mind 
the  bad  sense  sometimes  conveyed  by  that  word,  I 
would  simply  say  that  I  have  not  been  dealing  in  the 
speculative  dreams  of  the  closet,  but  in  convictions  de- 
rived from  the  realities  of  the  schoolroom  during  some 

5 


6  PREFACE 

twenty  years  of  actual  service  as  a  teacher.  Theory 
may  justly  mean  the  science  distinguished  from  the  art 
of  Teaching,  —  but  as  in  practice  these  should  never  be 
divorced,  so  in  the  following  chapters  I  have  endeavored 
constantly  to  illustrate  the  one  by  the  other. 

If  life  should  be  spared  and  other  circumstances 
should  warrant  the  undertaking,  perhaps  a  further 
course  comprising  the  Details  of  Teaching  may,  at 
some  future  time,  assume  a  similar  form  to  complete 
my  original  design. 

DAVID  P.  PAGE. 

State  Normal  School, 
Albany,  N.Y.,  Jan.  i,  1847. 


THE   EDITOR'S    PREFACE 

The  text  of  this  book  is  Mr.  Page's  own  without 
material  change  except  in  one  instance.  Chapter  II. 
has  been  inserted  more  because  the  editor  values  the 
subject  than  the  matter.  Fitness  to  Teach  is  one  of 
the  fundamental  questions  that  Mr.  Page  did  not  treat 
specifically  in  his  original  volume. 

The  chapters  have  been  followed  by  Analyses,  Re- 
views, References,  and  such  other  items  as  serve  to 
make  a  text-book  out  of  a  book  of  lectures ;  and  so  to 
heighten  its  value  for  private  students,  for  class  rooms, 
and  reading  circles. 

E.  C.  BRANSON. 

Georgia  State  Normal  School. 


CONTENTS 


ii. 


in. 


IV. 


VI. 


VII. 


Biographical  Sketch  of  the  Author 
Topical  Outline 
Table  of  Chronology 

Spirit  of  the  Teacher    . 
Topical  Outline 
Subjects  for  Discussion  or  Essays 


Fitness  to  Teach 
Topical  Outline 
Readings 


Responsibility  of  the  Teacher 
Topical  Quiz  .... 
Written  Exercises  . 
Page's  Order  of  Studies  . 

Personal  Habits  of  the  Teacher 
Review  Quiz   ..... 
Habits  Worth  Cultivating 
Significant  Thoughts  about  Habit  . 
Readings 


Literary  Qualifications  of  the  Teacher 
Topical  Outline 
Quotations      .         . 


Right  Views  of  Education 
Topical  Outline 
Subjects  for  Discussion  or  Essays 

Right  Modes  of  Teaching 
Topical  Outline 
v  Subjects  for  Discussion  or  Essays 
9 


IO  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGES 

VIII.    Conducting  Recitations  .....  138-154 

Topical  Quiz 151,  153 

V  Forms  of  the  Recitation  .         .         .         .152 

\  Subjects  for  Discussion  or  Essays   .         .         -154 

IX.    Exciting  Interest  in  Study   .        .        .        .155-181 

Topical  Outline 180 

v  Subjects  for  Discussion  or  Essays   .         .         .181 

X.    School  Government 182-246 

Topical  Outline 242 

N  Subjects  for  Discussion  or  Essays   .         .         .  246 

XI.    School  Arrangements 247-276 

Topical  Outline 273 

Subjects  for  Discussion  or  Essays   .         .         .  276 

XII.    The  Teacher's  Relation  to  the  Parents  of 

his  Pupils 277-284 

Topical  Outline 283 ' 

Subjects  for  Discussion  or  Essays   .         .         .  284 

XIII.  The  Teacher's  Care  of  his  Health     .        .  285-298 

Topical  Outline 297 

Subjects  for  Discussion  or  Essays  .         .         .  297 

Readings 298 

XIV.  The  Teacher's  Relation  to  his  Profession  299-319 

Topical  Quiz  .         .         .        .         .         .         .  318 

Readings 318 

XV.    Miscellaneous  Suggestions     ....  320-357 

Topical  Outline 355 

v  Written  Exercises 357 

XVI.    The  Rewards  of  the  Teacher       .        .        .  358-372 

Topical  Outline 372 

Index 373 


THE   THEORY   AND   PRACTICE 
OF   TEACHING 


o»?o 


A   BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF    DAVID 
PERKINS    PAGE 

i.  His  Boyhood.  —  David  Perkins  Page  was  born  in 
1 8 10,  at  Epping,  a  small  village  in  New  Hampshire. 
His  father  was  a  farmer  in  moderate  circumstances. 
He  intended  that  his  son  should  follow  his  own  calling, 
for  which  an  education  appeared  to  him  useless.  The 
boy,  who  had  a  passionate  love  of  books  and  an  ardent 
desire  for  knowledge,  was  kept  at  work  on  the  farm, 
and  denied  any  education  beyond  what  the  inferior  dis- 
trict schools  of  that  day  afforded.  But  from  Nature  he 
learned  the  valuable  lessons  which  she  stands  ever  ready 
to  teach  to  those  who  will  give  ear ;  and  doubtless,  he 
was  indebted  to  his  early  life  on  the  farm  for  two  excel- 
lent habits  —  the  habit  of  hard  toil  and  that  of  persist- 
ence in  an  undertaking  to  the  point  of  mastery. 

2.  A  Crisis  in  his  Life.  —  When  he  was  sixteen  years 
of  age,  a  severe  illness  brought  him  near  to  death.  As 
his  father  bent  over  him  to  catch  what  he  believed  to  be 
his  son's  last  words,  the  lad  looked  him  full  into  the  face 
and  whispered  feebly,  "  Father,  if  I  get  well,  may  I  go 
to  Hampton  Academy  ? "  The  father,  overcome  with 
grief,  gave  the  promise.  David  recovered,  and  went  to 
Hampton,  where  he  spent  about  a  year,  teaching  a  win- 
ter school  meantime  in  his  native  village. 


12  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

3.  The  Schoolboy.  —  Page's  schoolmates  at  Hamp- 
ton amused  themselves  at  his  expense  with  jeers  and 
laughter  at  his  simple,  homemade  clothes.  But  this 
ridicule  left  no  trace  upon  young  Page  beyond  a  lasting 
contempt  for  fops  and  boors.  The  boy  was  an  eager, 
anxious  student;  he  studied  as  he  had  plowed  —  with 
all  his  might  and  main,  and  he  easily  turned  his  furrow 
ahead  of  the  idlers  in  the  school. 

4.  The  Country  School-teacher. — This  year  of  aca- 
demic training  gave  him  the  needed  start.  His  career 
as  a  teacher  began  with  the  winter  school  he  taught 
near  his  home,  when  he  was  barely  seventeen  years  old. 
The  next  three  years  he  taught  in  the  district  schools  of 
his  native  state,  working  and  studying  all  the  while  to 
educate  himself  for  teaching.  For  he  had  begun  to 
realize  that  he  must  give  himself  whatever  further  edu- 
cation he  was  to  have.  He  never  went  to  college,  but 
his  studies  at  home  and  in  his  schoolroom  fitted  him  at 
last  to  become  the  president  of  a  great  institution. 

5.  The  Private  School-teacher.  —  At  nineteen 
years  of  age,  he  taught  a  public  school  at  Newbury, 
Massachusetts,  and  later  opened  a  private  school  in  the 
same  place.  It  was  a  bold  undertaking  for  a  young  man, 
but  four  years  of  teaching  here  and  there  had  convinced 
him  that  the  wandering  school-teacher  is  not  likely  to  be 
worthful  or  to  demonstrate  his  worth.  A  plant  does  not 
grow  well  when  transplanted  too  often.  Page's  private 
school  was  a  decided  success.  He  remained  at  Newbury 
two  years,  and  was  then  called  to  larger  responsibilities 
by  the  school  authorities  of  Newburyport. 

6.  The  Teacher  Student.  —  In  183 1,  in  his  twenty- 
first  year,  this  self-taught  school-teacher  was  made  the 
associate  principal  of  the  Newburyport  High  School, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  1 3 

and  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of  English. 
And  responsible  as  this  position  was,  the  young  teacher 
was  well  fitted  to  perform  his  duties ;  for  Page  was  a 
hard  student  as  well  as  a  conscientious  teacher,  and 
prepared  himself  in  advance,  so  that  when  the  oppor- 
tunity came  he  was  ready  to  accept  it. 

7.  The  Growing  School-teacher.  —  He  remained  in 
the  Newburyport  High  School  for  twelve  years,  putting 
his  very  best  labor  into  his  work,  continuing  his  studies 
and  widening  his  influence  —  getting  ready  for  another 
step  upward.  He  became  an  active  and  influential  mem- 
ber of  the  Essex  County  Teachers'  Association,  and 
one  of  his  lectures  before  that  body,  on  "The  Mutual 
Duties  of  Parents  and  Teachers,"  was  characterized  by 
Horace  Mann  as  the  best  of  its  kind  ever  delivered. 
Mr.  Mann  had  six  thousand  copies  of  it  printed  for 
general  distribution,  bearing  one  half  of  the  expense 
himself.  Other  lectures  of  this  growing  young  teacher 
were  printed  and  distributed  in  similar  ways. 

8.  His  Call  to  Albany.  —  Meanwhile  the  legisla 
ture  of  New  York,  following  the  lead  of  Massachu 
setts,  decided  to  establish  a  State  Normal  School.  A 
committee,  charged  with  the  delicate  task  of  selecting 
a  principal,  wrote  to  Horace  Mann  for  advice.  He 
at  once  recommended  David  Page.  Correspondence 
was  opened  with  Mr.  Page,  whose  letters  so  impressed 
the  committee  that  one  of  the  members  exclaimed,  "  I 
am  satisfied.  That  is  the  man  we  need."  Still,  to  be 
sure  of  making  no  mistake,  the  committee  sent  another 
of  its  members  to  Newburyport  for  a  personal  conference 
with  Mr.  Page.  A  half -hour's  conversation  closed  the  ne- 
gotiation, and  in  1844  Page  left  Newburyport  to  become 
principal  of  the  new  State  Normal  School  at  Albany. 


14  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

9.  His  Friend  Horace  Mann.  —  On  his  way  to  Al- 
bany, Mr.  Page  spent  a  night  in  Boston  with  his  friend 
Horace  Mann.  Mr.  Mann  was  the  first  secretary  of 
the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education  (1837-48).  He 
was  the  great  leader  of  the  common-school  movement 
in  the  United  States  —  a  truly  great  man,  who  loved 
the  cause  of  public  schools,  and  devoted  himself  to 
their  uplifting.  It  was  no  small  credit  to  a  young 
teacher  to  have  won  the  approval  of  a  man  like  Horace 
Mann.  Page  received  from  him  many  words  of  help 
and  inspiration  to  guide  him  in  his  new  work.  "  Suc- 
ceed or  die,"  said  Mr.  Mann  in  parting,  and  Page 
did  both,  winning  success,  but  at  the  expense  of  his 
life. 

10.  Solving  a  Difficult  Problem.  —  Page  reached 
Albany  in  December,  1844,  a  few  days  before  the  date 
set  for  the  opening  of  the  school.  He  found  that  the 
state  had  provided  no  quarters  for  the  "  new  experi- 
ment," as  it  was  doubtfully  called.  The  city  of  Albany, 
however,  had  granted  the  temporary  use  of  a  building. 
The  hammers  of  the  carpenters  were  still  sounding 
upon  it  when  Mr.  Page  opened  the  school  with  a  small 
class  of  twenty-nine  students,  December  18,  1844. 

There  were  no  adequate  arrangements  or  provisions 
for  the  school  —  no  apparatus,  no  plans  of  organization, 
no  well-defined  purposes,  and  few  precedents  or  pro- 
fessional text-books  and  guides.  Few  people  wished 
or  expected  the  experiment  to  succeed.  The  many  were 
indifferent,  or  frankly  desired  its  failure  and  freely 
prophesied  it.  The  newspapers  and  politicians  found 
it  popular  to  discredit  the  undertaking.  Even  the 
teachers  in  the  academies  and  colleges  combined  against 
it.     They  doubted  the  need  for  such  a  school,  criticised 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  1 5 

its  practical  operations,  and  sometimes  went  so  far  as 
to  malign  the  character  of  its  principal. 

11.  Page's  Resources.  —  Here  was  urgent  need  for 
a  self-reliant  head,  a  man  of  genius  —  energetic,  de- 
voted, wise,  practical,  adroit,  and  resourceful.  Page 
was  all  this  and  more.  He  was  a  man  and  a  gentle- 
man, strong  and  kind  —  a  leader  as  well  as  a  teacher, 
a  graceful  and  effective  speaker  as  well  as  an  organ- 
izer, conscious  of  his  power  and  everywhere  capable 
of  inspiring  confidence  in  the  success  of  his  under- 
taking. 

The  plans  and  details  of  the  school  were  quickly 
resolved  upon,  and  it  settled  down  safely  upon  lines  of 
work  which  later  became  the  model  for  all  such  schools. 
Detractors  were  silenced  and  enemies  were  rapidly 
converted  into  friends,  the  new  governor  among  them. 
Finding  no  suitable  text-book  upon  the  theory  and 
practice  of  teaching,  he  proceeded  to  make  one. 
Although  more  than  half  a  century  old,  there  is  hardly 
a  judgment  in  this  book  that  needs  to  be  revised.  It  is 
a  wise  book  —  a  book  for  all  time.  "  It  comes  nearer 
being  a  classic  than  any  other  book  on  teaching  ever 
written  in  America."  (Hinsdale.)  A  teacher  who  has 
not  mastered  his  Page  will  some  day  be  as  ridiculous 
as  a  lawyer  who  has  not  thoroughly  thumbed  his  Black- 
stone. 

12.  Success. — The  new  term  opened  in  May  with 
two  hundred  students.  Commodious  accommodations 
were  provided.  Four  years  had  not  gone  by  before  the 
school  had  ceased  to  be  a  mere  experiment.  It  had 
everywhere  become  an  acknowledged  success,  and  was 
too  deeply  rooted  in  the  affections  of  the  public  to  be 
uptorn. 


1 6  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

But  the  campaign  had  been  a  long  and  arduous  one. 
Page  had  spent  his  vacations,  not  in  rest,  but  in  travel 
and  toil,  lecturing  day  by  day  before  teachers'  institutes 
and  popular  audiences,  everywhere  making  friends  for 
the  school,  and  winning  for  himself  golden  opinions 
from  all  sorts  of  people. 

13.  Death.  —  The  fall  term  of  1847  found  him  cheer- 
ful and  hopeful,  but  with  waning  physical  strength. 
Still  he  went  his  customary  round  of  visitation,  call- 
ing upon  each  student  to  offer  words  of  good  cheer 
and  advice.  One  day  he  said  to  his  faculty,  "  I  have 
visited  them  all.  It  is  a  severe  task.  Hereafter  I 
must  have  your  aid."  They  begged  him  to  rest.  He 
agreed  to  do  so,  and  planned  a  trip  for  the  Christmas 
holidays.  The  evening  before  his  departure,  the  faculty 
met  at  his  residence.  He  complained  of  feeling  ill,  ex- 
cused himself,  and  retired  early.  Pneumonia  developed 
rapidly,  and  his  feeble  frame  yielded  quickly  to  its 
ravages.  He  passed  away  upon  New  Year's  day,  1848, 
and  lies  buried  with  Whitfield  in  the  old  cemetery  at 
'Newbury port,  Massachusetts. 

14.  What  Manner  of  Man  he  was.  —  His  life  was 
brief  as  men  count  time ;  but  he  strove  not  to  live  long, 
but  to  live  well.  If  men  are  to  be  measured  by  the 
length  of  their  shadows  in  history,  Page  was  a  great 
man.  His  book  has  instructed  and  inspired  more 
teachers  than  any  other  ever  published  in  this  country. 
He  helped  to  uplift  the  whole  idea  of  teaching  in  the 
minds  of  men.  Page  felt  that  teaching  is  not  a  task 
for  drudges,  but  that  "to  educate  the  human  soul  aright" 
is  a  calling  for  High  Priests.  The  spirit  of  his  life  was 
"  Look  up  and  lift  up."  Students  of  his  book  who  have 
not  caught  this  spirit  of  his  have  missed  the  man  while 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  I J 

thumbing  his  pages.     Page  himself  is  the  best  thing  in 
his  book. 

1 5.  How  he  came  to  Succeed.  —  It  is  easy  to  account 
in  a  measure  for  the  rise  to  eminence  of  this  farmer  lad. 
He  was  hungry  for  an  education,  and  the  dominant  desire 
of  his  life  was  to  be,  not  famous,  but  helpful.  Energy 
of  this  sort  never  goes  to  waste.  He  was  willing  to 
spend  himself  to  the  uttermost  to  achieve  his  high  ideals. 
He  knew  how  to  toil  unwearyingly.  He  planned  his 
work  of  teaching  and  self-teaching,  and  his  will  fell  upon 
his  tasks  like  a  trip  hammer.  The  weariness  of  a  day's 
hard  work  was  lost  at  night  in  his  passion  for  study. 
He  prepared  his  next  day's  lessons  thoroughly.  He 
hunted  down  the  principles  underlying  the  facts  to  be 
taught.  He  cultivated  the  habit  of  complete  mastery  of 
subjects.  He  carried  on  collateral  studies  systematically. 
While  teaching  common-school  subjects,  he  studied  Eng- 
lish literature.  While  teaching  English,  he  took  up 
Latin  and  the  higher  mathematics.  While  spending  his 
strength  at  Albany,  he  was  settling  down  to  a  mastery 
of  Greek.  All  the  while  he  schooled  himself  laboriously 
in  composition,  debate,  and  lecturing.  He  cultivated 
also  the  social  side  of  his  nature  and  knew  how  to  meet 
people  pleasantly.  He  learned  how  to  disarm  prejudice. 
Thoughtfulness  enriched  all  experiences  in  his  work;  sq 
that  from  his  mistakes  he  learned  his  most  valuable  les- 
sons. He  schooled  himself  to  the  self-control  and  good 
humor  that  won  him  so  many  battles  in  his  Albany 
campaign.  He  was  not  merely  a  model  teacher,  but  a 
model  man. 

16.  The  Lesson  of  his  Life.  —  It  has  been  well  said 
that  a  large  part  of  genius  is  susceptibility  to  excite- 
ment—  readiness  to  be  set  afire  wholly  and  to  glow 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  2 


1 8  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

steadily  in  the  prosecution  of  a  distinct  purpose  in  life. 
It  is  worth  a  fortune  to  a  young  person  to  be  well 
stirred  up  by  any  worthy  motive.  The  teacher  who  can 
be  profoundly  aroused  about  the  concerns  of  his  call- 
ing is  almost  sure  to  have  a  career  of  usefulness.  No 
true  teachers  can  fail  to  be  moved  by  the  simple  story 
of  David  Page's  life.  It  is  the  story  of  the  rise  of  a 
self-instructed  country  school-teacher,  out  of  obscurity 
into  public  power ;  the  story  of  one  whose  thirst  for 
knowledge  was  unquenchable,  whose  zeal  was  unflag- 
ging, whose  courage  was  unfailing,  and  whose  nobility 
of  character  steadily  bore  him  upward  in  men's  esteem. 
A  country  school-teacher  himself,  he  took  the  country 
school-teachers  of  America  to  his  heart.  The  lesson  of 
his  life  is  this  :  "  A  noble  desire  is  both  a  promise  and 
a  prophecy  of  its  fulfillment." 

"  There  will  always  be  men  whom  nothing  can  keep 
uneducated,  men  like  Franklin  and  Bowditch,  who  can 
break  down  every  obstacle ;  men  gifted  with  such  tenac- 
ity of  resolution,  such  vigor  of  thought,  such  power  of  self- 
control,  that  they  live  on  difficulties,  and  seem  strongest 
when  fed  most  abundantly  with  that  rugged  fare ;  men 
that  go  forth  strong  as  the  sun  and  as  lonely,  nor  brook 
to  take  assistance  from  the  world  of  men.  For  such 
no  provision  is  needed.  They  fight  their  own  battles, 
for  they  are  born  fully  armed,  terrible  from  their  very 
beginning.  To  them  difficulty  is  nothing.  Poverty 
but  makes  them  watchful.  Shut  out  from  books  and 
teachers,  they  have  instructors  in  the  birds  and  beasts, 
and  whole  Vatican  libraries  in  the  trees  and  stones. 
They  fear  no  discouragement.  They  go  the  errand 
God  sent  them,  trusting  in  him  to  bless  the  gift  he 
gave.     They  beat  the  mountain  of  difficulty  into  dust, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH  1 9 

and  get  the  gem  it  could  not  hide  from  an  eye  piercing 
as  Argus'.  But  these  men  are  rare  —  exceptions  to  the 
rule;  strong  souls  in  much-enduring  flesh.' '  Well  did 
Page  himself  fulfill  Plato's  ideal  of  the  wise  man  —  an 
ideal  with  which  he  would  fain  have  inspired  every 
teacher :  "  A  lover  not  of  a  part  of  wisdom,  but  of  the 
whole ;  who  has  a  taste  for  every  sort  of  knowledge  and 
is  curious  to  learn,  and  is  never  satisfied ;  who  has  mag- 
nificence of  mind,  and  is  the  spectator  of  all  time  and 
all  existence ;  who  is  harmoniously  constituted ;  of  a 
well-proportioned  and  gracious  mind,  whose  own  nature 
will  move  spontaneously  toward  the  true  being  of  every- 
thing ;  who  has  a  good  memory,  and  is  quick  to  learn ; 
noble,  gracious,  the  friend  of  truth,  justice,  courage, 
temperance." 


TOPICAL  OUTLINE 

1.  Page's  boyhood. 

2.  A  crisis  in  his  life. 

3.  The  schoolboy. 

4.  The  country  school-teacher. 

5.  The  private  school-teacher. 

6.  The  teacher  student. 

7.  The  growing  school-teacher. 

8.  His  call  to  Albany. 

9.  His  friend  Horace  Mann. 

10.  Solving  a  difficult  problem. 

11.  Page's  resources. 

12.  Success. 

13.  Death. 

14.  The  manner  of  man  he  was. 

15.  How  he  came  to  succeed. 

16.  The  lesson  of  his  life. 


20 


THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 


TABLE  OF  CHRONOLOGY 


Date. 

Age. 

Places. 

Events. 

I8IO 

Epping,  N.H. 

Born.     A  farmer's  son. 

I8l6 

16 

Epping,  N.H. 

111.  Goes  to  Hampton  Acad- 
emy one  year.  Teaches 
country  schools  in  New 
Hampshire  three  years. 

1829 

19 

Newbury,  Mass. 

Teaches  a  public  school .  Opens 
a  private  school. 

183I 

21 

Newburyport,  Mass. 

Associate  Principal  Newbury- 
port High  School. 

1844 

34 

Albany,  N.Y. 

Principal  State  Normal  School. 

1848 

38 

Albany,  N.Y. 

Died. 

Newburyport,  Mass. 

Buried. 

CHAPTER    I 

THE   SPIRIT   OF   THE   TEACHER 

"  I  would  have  my  children  able  at  each  moment  from  morning 
to  evening  to  read  on  my  face  and  to  divine  on  my  lips  that  my 
heart  is  devoted  to  them  ;  that  their  happiness  and  their  joys  are 
my  happiness  and  my  joys." —  Pestalozzi. 

Perhaps  the  very  first  question  that  the  honest 
individual  will  ask  himself,  as  he  proposes  to  assume 
the  teacher's  office,  or  to  enter  upon  a  preparation  for 
it,  will  be — "What  manner  of  spirit  am  I  off"  No 
question  can  be  more  important.  I  would  by  no  means 
undervalue  that  degree  of  natural  talent  —  of  mental 
power,  which  all  justly  consider  so  desirable  in  the 
candidate  for  the  teacher's  office.  But  the  true  spirit 
of  the  teacher,  —  a  spirit  that  seeks  not  alone  pecuniary 
emolument,  but  desires  to  be  in  the  highest  degree  use- 
ful to  those  who  are  to  be  taught ;  a  spirit  that  elevates 
above  everything  else  the  nature  and  capabilities  of  the 
human  soul,  and  that  trembles  under  the  responsibility 
of  attempting  to  be  its  educator  ;  a  spirit  that  looks 
upon  gold  as  the  contemptible  dross  of  earth,  when 
compared  with  that  imperishable  gem  which  is  to  be 
polished  and  brought  out  into  heaven's  light  to  shine 
forever ;  a  spirit  that  scorns  all  the  rewards  of  earth, 
and  seeks  that  highest  of  all  rewards,  an  approving 
conscience  and  an  approving  God  ;  a  spirit  that  ear- 
nestly inquires  what  is  right,  and  that  dreads  to  do  what 


22  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

is  wrong ;  a  spirit  that  can  recognize  and  reverence  the 
handiwork  of  God  in  every  child,  and  that  burns  with 
the  desire  to  be  instrumental  in  training  it  to  the  highest 
attainment  of  which  it  is  capable,  —  such  a  spirit  is  the 
first  thing  to  be  sought  by  the  teacher,  and  without  it 
the  highest  talent  cannot  make  him  truly  excellent  in 
his  profession. 

The  candidate  for  the  office  of  teacher  should  look 
well  to  his  motives.  It  is  easy  to  enter  upon  the  duties 
of  the  teacher  without  preparation ;  it  is  easy  to  do  it 
without  that  lofty  purpose  which  an  enlightened  con- 
science would  ever  demand  ;  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to 
undo  the  mischief  which  a  single  mistake  may  produce 
in  the  mind  of  the  child,  at  that  tender  period  when 
mistakes  are  most  likely  to  be  made. 

Too  many  teachers  are  found  in  our  schools  without 
the  spirit  for  their  work  which  is  here  insisted  on. 
They  not  only  have  not  given  attention  to  any  prepara- 
tion for  their  work,  but  resort  to  it  from  motives  of 
personal  convenience,  and  in  many  instances  from  a 
consciousness  of  being  unfit  for  everything  else !  In 
other  professions  this  is  not  so.  The  lawyer  is  not 
admitted  to  the  bar  till  he  has  pursued  a  course  of 
thorough  preparation,  and  even  then  but  warily  em- 
ployed. The  physician  goes  through  his  course  of 
reading  and  his  course  of  lectures,  and  often  almost 
through  a  course  of  starvation  in  the  country  village 
where  he  first  puts  up  his  sign,  before  he  is  called  in  to 
heal  the  maladies  of  the  body.  It  is  long  before  he  can 
inspire  confidence  enough  in  the  people  to  be  intrusted 
with  their  most  difficult  cases  of  ailing,  and  very  likely 
the  noon  of  life  is  passed  before  he  can  consider  himself 
established.      But  it  is  not  so  with  the  teacher.      He 


SPIRIT   OF   THE    TEACHER 


23 


gains  access  to  the  sanctuary  of  mind  without  dif- 
ficulty, and  the  most  tender  interests  for  both  worlds 
are  intrusted  to  his  guidance,  even  when  he  makes 
pretension  to  no  higher  motive  than  that  of  filling  up  a 
few  months  of  time  not  otherwise  appropriated,  and  to 
no  qualifications  but  those  attained  by  accident.  A  late 
writer  in  the  Journal  of  Education  hardly  overstates 
this  matter :  "  Every  stripling  who  has  passed  four 
years  within  the  walls  of  a  college ;  every  dissatisfied 
clerk  who  has  not  ability  enough  to  manage  the  trifling 
concerns  of  a  common  retail  shop ;  every  young  farmer 
who  obtains  in  the  winter  a  short  vacation  from  the  toils 
of  summer,  —  in  short,  every  young  person  who  is  con- 
scious of  his  imbecility  in  other  business,  esteems  him- 
self fully  competent  to  train  the  ignorance  and  weakness 
of  infancy  into  all  the  virtue  and  power  and  wisdom  of 
maturer  years,  —  to  form  a  creature,  the  frailest  and 
feeblest  that  heaven  has  made,  into  the  intelligent  and 
fearless  sovereign  of  the  whole  animated  creation,  the 
interpreter  and  adorer  and  almost  the  representative  of 
Divinity !  " 

Many  there  are  who  enter  upon  the  high  employment 
of  teaching  a  common  school  as  a  secondary  object. 
Perhaps  they  are  students  themselves  in  some  higher 
institution,  and  resort  to  this  as  a  temporary  expedient 
for  paying  their  board,  while  their  chief  object  is  to 
pursue  their  own  studies,  and  thus  keep  pace  with  their 
classes.  Some  make  it  a  stepping-stone  to  something 
beyond,  and,  in  their  estimation,  higher  in  the  scale  of 
respectability,  —  treating  the  employment,  while  in  it, 
as  irksome  in  the  extreme,  and  never  manifesting  so 
much  delight  as  when  the  hour  arrives  for  the  dismissal 
of  their  schools.     Such  have  not  the  true  spirit  of  the 


24  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

teacher ;  and  if  their  labors  are  not  entirely  unprofitable, 
it  only  proves  that  children  are  sometimes  submitted  to 
imminent  danger  but  are  still  unaccountably  preserved 
by  the  hand  of  Providence. 

The  teacher  should  go  to  his  duty  full  of  his  work. 
He  should  be  impressed  with  its  overwhelming  impor- 
tance. He  should  feel  that  his  mistakes,  though  they 
may  not  speedily  ruin  him,  may  permanently  injure  his 
pupils.  Nor  is  it  enough  that  he  shall  say,  "  I  did  it 
ignorantly."  He  has  assumed  to  fill  a  place  where 
ignorance  itself  is  sin;  and  where  indifference  to  the 
well-being  of  others  is  equivalent  to  willful  homicide. 
He  might  as  innocently  assume  to  be  the  physician, 
and,  without  knowing  its  effects,  prescribe  arsenic  for 
the  colic.  Ignorance  is  not  in  such  cases  a  valid  excuse, 
because  the  assumption  of  the  place  implies  a  pretension 
to  the  requisite  skill.  Let  the  teacher,  then,  well  con- 
sider what  manner  of  spirit  .he  is  of.  Let  him  come  to 
this  work  only  when  he  has  carefully  pondered  its  nature 
and  its  responsibilities,  and  after  he  has  devoted  his 
best  powers  to  a  thorough  preparation  of  himself  for  its 
high  duties.  Above  all,  let  him  be  sure  that  his  motives 
on  entering  the  schoolroom  are  such  as  will  be  accept- 
able in  the  sight  of  God,  when  viewed  by  the  light 
beaming  out  from  his  throne. 

"  Oh!  let  not  then  unskillful  hands  attempt 
To  play  the  harp,  whose  tones,  whose  living  tones, 
Are  left  forever  in  the  strings.     Better  far 
That  heaven's  lightnings  blast  his  very  soul, 
And  sink  it  back  to  Chaos1  lowest  depths, 
Than  knowingly,  by  word  or  deed,  he  send 
A  blight  upon  the  trusting  mind  of  youth." 


SPIRIT    OF   THE    TEACHER  2$ 

TOPICAL  OUTLINE 

i .    An  important  personal  question. 

2.  The  true  teacher  spirit. 

Read  Educational  Mosaics,  p.  ioo,  "  Reverence  for  Boys." 

3.  Unworthy  motives. 

4.  The  physician  and  the  teacher  compared. 

Read   Educational   Mosaics,   pp.   127,   242,  "The   Teacher's 
Responsibility";  Idem,  p.  189,  "A  Work  for  Eternity." 

5.  Unworthy  applicants  to  teach. 

The  absurdity  and  the  danger. 

6.  The  sin  of  ignorance  and  indifference. 

Read  Morgan's  Studies  in  Pedagogy,  p.  269. 

SUBJECTS   FOR  DISCUSSION   OR  ESSAYS 

i.    Indications  of  proper  and  of  improper  spirit  in  the  teacher. 

2.  Worthy  and  unworthy  motives  in  teaching. 

3.  What  motives  are  and  why  they  are  so  important. 

Read  Davis's  Psychology,  Part  Fifth. 

4.  Copy  and  memorize  the  stanza  closing  the  chapter. 


CHAPTER   II 

FITNESS  TO  TEACH 

"Although  one  man  may  possess  more  capacity  than  another,  yet 
none  can  be  found  who  cannot  be  improved  by  cultivation.1'  — 
Quintilian. 

Fitness  to  teach  is  a  question  of  nature  and  of 
nurture ;  of  native  aptitude  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
necessary  acquirements  on  the  other.  Teachers  can 
be  developed ;  they  cannot  be  manufactured.  They 
can  be  developed  only  out  of  fit  material.  There  are 
born  musicians,  but  it  takes  years  of  painful  cultivation 
to  put  them  into  full  possession  of  their  birthrights. 
And  some  are  born  fit  for  teaching,  but  they  are  not  yet 
fit  to  teach  for  all  that,  until  they  have  acquired  the 
necessary  instrumental  knowledge  and  skill.  Without 
systematic  and  extensive  culture  and  self-culture,  native 
teaching  talent  falls  short  of  its  highest  capabilities,  or 
may  go  to  waste  altogether.  "  Not  even  genius  can 
afford  to  ignore  the  wisdom  of  the  race  "  said  Emerson. 
We  call  Edison  a  genius ;  still  he  has  steeped  his  mind 
in  the  largest  private  library  of  science  in  America. 
Originality  feeds  upon  suggestion,  and  the  fullest  knowl- 
edge is  necessary  for  its  finest  achievements. 

The  first  question  then  is,  Am  I  natively  fit  for  teach- 
ing ?  If  not,  it  is  doubtful  if  any  amount  of  scholarship 
and  culture  will  avail  to  make  me  a  teacher.     Here  are 

26 


FITNESS    TO    TEACH  27 

some  of  the  indications  of  native  fitness  for  teaching : 
insight,  sense,  sympathy,  conscience,  and  courage. 

The  teacher  should  be  endowed  with  insight ;  that  is, 
the  power  to  read  character  well;  to  fathom  motives 
and  to  play  upon  them  at  will ;  to  interpret  the  moods 
and  tempers,  attitudes  and  actions  of  pupils,  and  to 
judge  these  wisely  or  direct  them  adroitly ;  to  spy  out 
individual  tastes  and  talents,  and  to  minister  to  them 
appropriately ;  to  sense  a  pupil's  difficulty  or  need,  and 
to  suit  the  teaching  to  his  necessities.  Insight  works  by 
no  conscious  rules,  and  with  no  conscious  effort.  It  is 
a  magnificent  endowment,  and  alone  sometimes  carries  a 
teacher  a  long  way  toward  success. 

The  teacher  should  be  endowed  with  sense ;  that  is, 
equipoise,  balance  of  judgment.  The  teacher  who  is 
not  easily  thrown  off  his  balance  by  little  things  or  large, 
is  the  teacher  endowed  with  sense.  The  habits  of  fault- 
finding and  threatening,  chronic  ill  temper  and  peevish- 
ness, sarcasm  and  coarseness,  bragging  and  bluster,  all 
indicate  an  ill-balanced  judgment.  They  indicate  a  lack 
of  sense  —  nothing  more  or  worse,  perhaps. 

Nothing  puts  out  the  eye  of  judgment  and  unhinges 
the  reason  like  anger.  "  Anger  is  drunkenness  without 
wine."  The  angry  teacher  is  apt  to  outrage  all  judg- 
ment, and  to  be  both  unjust  and  unwise.  Certainly  it 
does  not  take  much  sense  to  be  a  chronic  fault-finder. 
The  sensible  teacher  does  not  threaten  or  blow  or  blus- 
ter. He  soon  learns  that  children  are  controlled  not  so 
much  by  what  he  says,  as  by  what  he  does ;  and  not  so 
much  by  what  is  done  as  by  the  man  behind  it  all. 
What  a  man  is  reenf orces  or  weakens  all  that  he  says  or 
does.  Sarcasm  and  coarseness  are  an  offense  against 
good  sense  even  more  than  against  good  breeding. 


28  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

Caprice  and  sensitiveness  ought,  perhaps,  to  be  added 
to  this  list  of  sins  against  sense.  The  whimsical,  capri- 
cious teacher  with  orders  under  one  arm  and  counter- 
orders  under  the  other,  who  veers  about  in  his  judgments 
like  a  weather  vane,  is  not  a  man  at  all,  but  an  overgrown 
child.  Caprice  is  a  mark  of  childishness.  Manhood  is 
marked  by  rational  knowledge,  rational  motives,  and 
rational  existence.  It  is  hard  to  be  both  sensitive  and 
sensible.  Sensitive  people,  easily  offended,  are  not  apt 
to  deal  wisely  or  helpfully  with  either  children  or  parents. 

On  the  other  hand,  quiet  composure,  self-control,  mod- 
eration good  humor,  fairness,  firmness,  and  decisiveness 
are  evidences  of  well-balanced  judgment.  They  indicate 
sense.  You  will  notice  that  these  qualities  are  necessary 
elements  of  tact.  Tact  is  only  well-bred  common  sense. 
It  is  the  power  of  doing  disagreeable  things  agreeably. 

The  teacher  should  be  endowed  with  sympathy ;  that 
is,  the  power  to  put  himself  in  the  child's  place  and 
to  feel  with  him  and  for  him ;  to  be  touched  with  the 
feeling  of  his  small  infirmities ;  to  look  at  things  from 
his  point  of  view ;  to  realize  his  perplexities  and  difficul- 
ties tenderly  and  patiently ;  to  stand  in  the  center  of 
the  child's  little  world  of  ideas  and  interests,  motives 
and  ideals,  and  to  be  for  it  a  source  of  illuminating, 
quickening  power.  "  Sympathy  is  a  kind  of  sunshine 
in  which  everything  will  grow  but  sin."  It  is  hard  to 
overstate  the  regenerative  power  of  sympathy  and  love. 
Still  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  childhood  needs  the 
discipline  of  law  as  well  as  the  discipline  of  love. 

To  be  hard  and  harsh,  cold  and  unsympathetic,  means 
radical  unfitness  for  teaching.  The  unsympathetic 
teacher  is  out  of  place  in  the  schoolroom. 

The   teacher    should    be    endowed    with    a   sensitive 


FITNESS    TO    TEACH  2$ 

conscience  ;  that  is,  an  instinctive  reverence  for  truth,  a 
strong  love  of  right,  a  wholesome  fear  of  wrongdoing. 
It  ought  to  be  said  of  him  :  "  He  fears  no  man  ;  he  fears 
only  to  do  wrong."  He  ought  to  be  a  man  of  clear 
moral  ideas,  who  discerns  wrong  in  all  its  guises  and  dis- 
guises, who  is  moved  not  by  passion  but  by  principle, 
who  sets  duty  before  pleasure,  who  exalts  the  child's 
well-being  above  his  own,  who  hates  a  lie  and  turns 
with  loathing  from  all  vice  and  uncleanness. 

The  true  teacher  has  no  choice  but  to  satisfy  con- 
science and  judgment  in  his  round  of  school  duties,  even 
at  the  expense  of  popularity  and  place.  The  man  who 
reverences  his  conscience  as  his  king,  cannot  be  kicked 
into  a  basement  story.  To-day  or  to-morrow,  in  this 
century  or  the  next,  he  is  sure  to  be  found  in  some 
upper  story  of  men's  esteem.  The  teacher  can  always 
afford  to  do  right;  he  can  never  afford  to  do  wrong. 
The  desire  for  mere  popularity  is  a  snare  set  for  every 
young  teacher.  The  right  thing  is  not  always  the 
popular  thing ;  but  it  is  always  something  better. 

The  teacher  should  be  endowed  with  courage ;  that 
is,  the  will  to  assault  wrong,  to  stand  true  to  convictions, 
to  stand  firm  against  evil,  to  resist  all  influences,  both 
within  and  without,  that  threaten  the  soul's  integrity. 

"  God's  will  can  never  be  made  manifest  by  cowards," 
The  cringing  teacher  falls  into  contempt  inevitably. 
Men  forget  and  forgive  wickedness  sooner  than  they 
forget  and  forgive  weakness.  Indeed,  weakness  is  the 
mother  of  wickedness.  Have  you  had  a  clear  vision  of 
some  right  thing  ?  Then  stand  for  it  stoutly  and  fear- 
lessly. 

But  do  not  mistake  rashness  for  courage.  Rashness 
is   impetuous   impulse   without   judgment;   courage   i§ 


30  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

bottomed  upon  conscience  and  coolness,  judgment  and 
will.  Rashness  relies  upon  what  it  can  do ;  courage 
upon  what  is  right  to  be  done.  Rashness  blusters  like 
a  March  wind ;  courage  awes  like  the  stillness  of  a 
coming  storm.  Rashness  is  the  humor  of  a  moment ; 
courage  is  the  enduring  bed-rock  of  character.  Rash- 
ness is  apt  to  be  ridiculous ;  but  courage  is  always 
grand.  The  rash  teacher  is  sport  for  children ;  they 
stand  in  wholesome  awe  of  courage.  It  cannot  be 
wheedled  or  bribed,  affrighted  or  routed.  Cowardice 
and  cringing  indicate  radical  unfitness  for  teaching. 
A  great  man  once  said :  "  Teachers  are  constitutional 
cowards,  as  a  rule."     Is  it  so? 

.But  these  endowments  of  birth,  precious  as  they 
are,  will  not  avail  alone.  Native  aptitude  needs  to  be 
enriched  and  developed  by  academic  scholarship,  by 
study  of  psychology,  pedagogy,  and  methods,  and  by 
a  thoughtful  experience  in  teaching.  No  one  of  these 
alone,  nor  any  combination  of  these  short  of  them  all, 
will  enable  the  teacher  to  reach  the  full  limit  of  his 
capabilities.  Evidently,  fitting  oneself  to  be  a  teacher 
is  a  long  and  arduous  work,  but  it  is  a  grand  undertaking 
for  noble  natures.  "  Next  to  creating  a  human  soul,  the 
divinest  thing  in  life  is  to  educate  it  aright,"  said  Plato. 

First  of  all,  native  aptitude  for  teaching  needs  to 
be  enriched  and  developed  by  academic  scholarship. 
That  is,  a  teacher  needs  to  have  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  subjects  to  be  taught.  It  is  absurd  to  set  up  to 
be  a  teacher  without  scholarship  to  this  extent  at  the 
very  least.  Nothing  can  substitute  accurate  and  mas- 
terly scholarship  in  teaching  or  apologize  for  its  lack 
in  the  teacher.  It  is  the  teacher's  business  —  it  is  his 
solemn  duty  —  to  know  thoroughly  what  he  undertakes 


FITNESS    TO    TEACH  3 1 

to  teach.  "  He  has  assumed  to  fill  a  place  where  igno- 
rance itself  is  sin,  and  where  indifference  to  the  well- 
being  of  others  is  equivalent  to  willful  homicide,' '  said 
David  Page. 

Moreover,  the  teacher's  knowledge  needs  to  extend 
far  beyond  what  he  teaches  day  by  day.  He  must 
know  a  great  deal  in  order  to  teach  a  little  well.  He 
must  be  a  student  as  well  as  a  teacher,  a  true  lover  of 
learning  —  ardent,  systematic,  and  persistent  in  enlarg- 
ing the  range  of  his  scholarship.  He  ought  always  to 
be  a  learner  everywhere  and  from  everything.  Study 
ought  to  be  to  him  an  increasing  joy  and  not  a  depress- 
ing burden. 

He  must  learn  the  secret  of  success  in  study ;  which 
is,  according  to  Agricola,  to  persist  till  he  has  clear 
views  of  a  subject,  then  to  fix  firmly  in  memory  what 
is  understood,  and  then  to  produce  something  of  his 
own  out  of  his  gains  from  others.  Scholarship  is  a 
result  of  intellectual  income ;  but  culture  is  a  result  of 
intellectual  output.  "  The  caterpillar  eats  mulberry 
leaves,  but  he  spins  silk,"  said  Montaigne.  Cultivate, 
the  habit  of  striking  a  thought  of  your  own  out  of  the 
thoughts  of  others ;  hunt  for  underlying  principles ;  lay 
in  a  stock  of  fundamental  notions.  These  are  intellec- 
tual seed  corn  from  which  a  harvest  of  your  own  m^y 
come  in  due  season.  But  learn  also  to  think  concretely  ; 
that  is,  learn  to  illustrate  what  you  know.  It  is  safe  to 
say  of  a  teacher  that  he  does  not  know  efficiently  what 
he  cannot  illustrate  aptly. 

When  you  cease  to  be  an  efficient  student  you  cease 
to  be  an  effective  teacher.  Adding  to  what  we  know 
is  a  condition  of  retaining  what  we  know.  The  teacher 
who  studies  less  than  his  pupils  will  soon  know  less 


32  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

than  his  pupils.  If  you  are  a  poor  scholar  and  a  poor 
student,  you  must  always  be  at  a  disadvantage  —  must 
always  be  a  hopeless  drudge;  for  the  way  to  larger 
honors,  larger  rewards,  and  larger  usefulness  will  always 
be  firmly  barred  against  you. 

Fortunately,  the  way  to  education  is  now  smooth  for 
every  young  teacher  who  seeks  it.  If  you  cannot  go  to 
college,  then  teach  yourself  the  studies  in  a  college 
course,  as  so  many  others  have  done.  He  that  can 
teach  others  certainly  can  teach  himself.  To  be  sure, 
the  teacher's  work  is  hard  work,  and  he  must  rest ;  but 
resting  easily  gets  to  be  rusting.  More  teachers  rust 
out  than  wear  out.  Not  even  Normal  schools  can  make 
good  teachers  out  of  poor  scholars.  "  A  good  scholar, 
however,  is  not  a  man  who  knows  a  great  deal ;  but  a 
man  who  is  struggling  to  know  a  great  deal.,,  *  Any 
of  us  can  be  scholars  in  this  magnificent  sense. 

Native  aptitude  for  teaching  needs,  also,  to  be  enriched 
and  developed  by  a  study  of  Psychology. 

Psychology  is  a  systematic  study  of  the  facts  and 
laws  of  human  nature.  It  helps  the  teacher  to  realize 
what  education  rightly  is ;  to  judge  what  is  genuinely 
educative  and  what  is  not;  to  determine  the  natural 
order  in  which  a  child's  mind  develops,  and  the  laws 
of  that  development ;  to  puzzle  out  a  suitable  order  of 
studies ;  and  to  have  clear  views  of  the  principles  and 
purposes  of  good  teaching. 

The  teacher  needs  to  know  not  only  as  much  as  pos- 
sible about  the  subjects  to  be  taught,  but  also  as  much 
as  possible  about  the  child  to  be  taught.  He  needs  to 
be  a  scientific  as  well  as  a  sympathetic  student  of  the 
nature  and  necessities  of  the  being  intrusted  to  him  to 
be  educated.     It  must  be  a  reckless  teacher  indeed  who 


FITNESS    TO    TEACH  33 

will  experiment  blindly  at  the  expense  and  peril  of 
childhood.  His  mistakes  mar  God's  handiwork  for 
eternity.  It  is  awful  for  human  souls  to  go  out  of  our 
schools  maimed  and  halt  and  blind.  A  conscientious 
teacher  will  diligently  seek  to  know  all  that  he  possibly 
can  know  about  the  nature  and  needs  of  the  children 
committed  to  his  care  and  keeping. 

He  must  have  a  scientific  view  of  Psychology  as  ex- 
hibited in  some  good  text-book ;  he  must  faithfully 
review  the  book  in  the  experiences  of  his  own  life ;  and 
he  must  study  Psychology  in  books  and  in  his  own  life, 
with  the  distinct  purpose  of  coming  to  understand  the 
child  he  teaches.  In  the  lifelong  endeavors  he  must 
make  to  become  a  teacher,  let  it  be  said  of  him  at  last : 
"And  he  set  a  little  child  in  the  midst  of  them." 

It  may  be  startling,  but  it  is  true,  that  the  teacher's 
professional  enlargement  is  limited  by  his  knowledge  of 
Psychology,  whatever  be  the  nature  of  that  knowledge 
or  however  it  may  have  been  gained.  Sometimes,  with- 
out a  study  of  formal  psychology,  a  teacher  learns  a 
great  deal  about  child  nature,  through  native  insight, 
sense,  and  sympathy.  Certainly  without  these  endow- 
ments, any  study  of  formal  psychology  would  avail  the 
teacher  little. 

But  native  aptitude  for  teaching  needs  still  further 
to  be  enriched  and  developed  by  a  study  of  Pedagogy. 

Pedagogy  is  a  record  of  the  educational  experiences 
and  experiments  of  the  race.  No  teacher  can  afford  to 
ignore  the  accumulations  of  race  wisdom  about  educa- 
tion. Pedagogy  enables  the  teacher  to  know  what  the 
great  world  has  thought  and  said  and  done  in  his  special 
field  of  endeavor,  and  what  the  common  sense  of  men 
has  approved  and  what  it  has  discarded  in  the;  work  of 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  3 


34  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

teaching.  It  enables  him  to  learn  quickly  and  safely 
what  the  race  has  learned  slowly  and  painfully.  It 
makes  him  aware  of  the  grand  march  of  educational 
ideals  and  efforts  toward  perfection.  It  saves  the 
teacher  from  pitching  his  tent  in  the  graveyard  of  dead 
experiments. 

But  best  of  all  it  brings  the  teacher  into  the  shadow 
of  great  personalities.  There  is  no  estimating  the  value 
of  a  teacher's  coming  to  know  such  men  as  Comenius 
and  Froebel,  Dr.  Arnold  and  Mark  Hopkins,  David 
Page  and  Horace  Mann,  Dr.  Payne  and  Dr.  Harris. 

Native  aptitude  for  teaching  needs,  also,  to  be  en- 
riched and  developed  by  a  study  of  methods  of  teaching. 

Methodology,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is  an  orderly 
body  of  truth  concerning  schoolroom  practices.  It  is  a 
practical  application  of  Psychology  to  teaching.  It  is 
based  upon  the  proposition  that  the  matter  and  methods 
of  teaching  shall  satisfy  the  nature  of  the  child,  and 
relate  him  fitly  to  the  world  into  which  he  is  born. 

It  helps  the  teacher  in  forming  safe  judgments  about 
matters  of  constant  concern  in  his  daily  work;  for 
instance,  the  primary  conditions  of  knowledge,  the  laws 
of  acquisition,  incentives  to  study,  and  to  righteous  self- 
control,  the  sources  of  knowledge  and  the  values  and 
limitations  of  each,  the  analysis  of  subjects,  courses  of 
study,  the  essential  idea  in  instruction,  in  teaching,  in 
discipline  ;  the  conduct  of  recitations,  the  nature  and 
uses  of  inductive  and  deductive  teaching;  the  values 
and  limitations  of  oral  instruction,  and  of  text-book 
study ;  the  assignment  and  preparation  of  lessons ; 
ranking,  marking,  reports,  examinations,  and  a  hundred 
other  practical  questions. 

If   tl\e  thoughtful  teacher  be  conditioned  wisely,  he 


FITNESS    TO    TEACH  35 

may  be  trusted  to  find  his  own  way  to  a  wise  end,  and 
under  strong  impulse  he  is  likely  to  do  so.  "  The  re- 
sourceful teacher  will  send  his  own  bucket  down  his 
own  well  for  his  own  water."  But  sometimes  even  this 
sort  of  teacher  finds  the  water  in  his  neighbor's  well  to 
be  better  than  his  own.  Hence  it  is  a  great  help  even 
to  the  best  teacher  to  know  what  is  going  on  in  the 
best  schools  of  the  country.  He  needs  the  stimulus 
of  good  school  journals.  He  will  get  out  into  the  insti- 
tutes and  associations,  and  into  the  progressive  school 
centers.  He  will  hunt  down  real  teachers  at  every 
opportunity,  and  study  them  closely.  He  will  at  least 
need  to  study  his  own  methods  closely,  whatever  atten- 
tion he  chooses  to  give  to  the  methods  of  others. 

Few  teachers  of  native  aptitude  are  apt  to  imitate 
slavishly.  Those  who  cannot  originate  can  hardly  be 
hurt  by  imitation  of  good  models.  "  It  is  better  to 
adapt  than  to  adopt,"  but  we  adapt  usually  after  a 
thoughtful  attempt  to  adopt.  David  could  not  fight  in 
Saul's  armor,  but  he  tried  it  on,  before  fixing  upon  his  own 
method  of  warfare.  "  History  itself  is  merely  a  record 
of  the  initiatives  that  have  been  most  imitated."  Imi- 
tation is  one  of  the  results  of  suggestion,  and  sugges- 
tion plays  a  large  part  in  the  work  of  the  most  original 
genius.  In  any  event  any  method  of  instruction  is  a 
failure  which  does  not  tend  to  induce  in  the  students 
earnest  and  orderly  self-instruction,  and  to  bring  them 
into  habits  of  righteous  self-control. 

It  is  well  to  add  that  education  is  a  vital,  not  a  me- 
chanical, process;  a  development,  not  a  manufacture. 
"  It  is  thought  kindling  itself  at  a  fire  of  living  thought, 
by  mysterious  contact  of  spirit  with  spirit,"  said  Carlyle. 
The  teacher's  success  is  resident  at  last  not  in  method, 


36  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

but  in  personality,  and  personality  is  the  most  mysteri- 
ous thing  in  the  universe,  except  God  himself.  There  is 
always  something  in  real  teaching  that  defies  all  analy- 
sis as  it  defies  all  communication.  The  finest  thing  in 
good  teaching,  like  the  finest  thing  in  good  manners, 
may  possibly  be  learned,  but  it  cannot  be  taught.  Of 
the  true  teacher  we  say,  "  Virtue  has  gone  out  of  him," 
but  just  how  we  cannot  tell. 

And  finally,  native  aptitude  for  teaching  needs  to  be 
enriched  and  developed  by  a  thoughtful,  practical  ex- 
perience. After  all  the  training  he  can  receive  at  the 
hands  of  others,  there  is  still  left  the  most  valuable 
training  of  all  —  the  training  he  must  give  himself. 
"  The  best  way  to  comprehend  is  to  do.  What  we  learn 
the  most  thoroughly  is  what  we  learn  to  some  extent  by 
ourselves,"  said  Immanuel  Kant.  Doing  is  a  final  con- 
dition of  knowing.  "All  is  but  lip-wisdom  that  lacks 
experience."  The  teacher  must  stir  judgment  into  every 
experience  of  his  schoolroom ;  must  get  a  wholesome 
and  lasting  lesson  out  of  every  mistake ;  must  be  his  own 
severest  critic.  "  With  what  do  you  mix  your  paints  ?  " 
a  young  man  once  asked  Mr.  Opie  the  artist.  "  With 
brains,  sir,"  was  the  significant  answer. 

No  one  believes  that  Normal  schools  send  out  teach- 
ers perfectly  outfitted  for  teaching.  The  best  they  can 
do  is  to  prepare  teachers  to  make  the  most  and  the  best 
out  of  their  daily  experiences  with  the  least  peril  to 
childhood.  If  a  teacher  can  be  profoundly  aroused 
about  the  vital  concerns  of  his  calling,  can  be  set  going 
in  the  right  direction,  whether  in  a  Normal  school  or  out 
of  it,  and  can  keep  himself  under  vigorous  headway, 
then  his  own  room  and  schoolroom  may  become  the  best 
Normal  school  for  him. 


FITNESS   TO    TEACH  37 

In  any  event  he  ought  to  be  able  to  say  at  the  last : 
"  I  have  made  as  much  out  of  myself  as  the  stuff  is 
capable  of,  and  no  man  could  demand  more."  It  would 
be  well  for  the  teacher,  as  he  takes  himself  in  hand  for 
better  or  for  worse,  to  be  inspired  by  Plato's  ideal  of  the 
cultured  man  :  "  A  lover,  not  of  a  part  of  wisdom,  but  of 
the  whole  ;  who  has  a  taste  for  every  sort  of  knowledge  ; 
who  is  curious  to  learn  and  is  never  satisfied ;  who  has 
magnificence  of  mind,  and  is  a  spectator  of  all  time  and 
all  existence  ;  who  is  harmoniously  constituted  ;  of  a  well- 
proportioned  and  gracious  mind ;  whose  nature  moves 
spontaneously  toward  the  true  significance  of  everything ; 
who  has  a  good  memory  and  is  quick  to  learn,  noble,  gra- 
cious, the  friend  of  truth,  justice,  courage,  temperance." 

TOPICAL  OUTLINE 

I.   Nature  and  nurture. 

i.   The  teacher  must  be  natively  fit. 
2.    Being  so,  he  must  still  be  cultivated. 

II .   Indications  of  native  fitness . 
i.    Insight. 

a.   What  it  is  and  its  value. 

2.  Sense. 

a.  What  it  is. 

b.  Evidences  of  a  lack  of  it. 

c.  Evidences  of  it. 

3.  Sympathy. 

a.  What  it  is. 

b.  Its  value. 

c.  Caution. 

4.  Conscience. 

a.  What  it  is. 

b.  Indications  of  it. 

c.  Its  value. 

d.  Snares. 


38  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

5.   Courage. 

a.  What  it  is. 

b.  Cowardice. 

c.  Courage  and  rashness. 

III.   Necessary  acquirements, 

1.  Academic  scholarship. 

a.  The  very  least  any  teacher  ought  to  know. 

b.  The  obligations  of  scholarship. 

c.  Extended  scholarship. 

d.  The  secret  of  study. 

e.  The  nature  of  culture. 

/.   The  penalties  of  poor  scholarship. 

g.  Self-education. 

h.  Resting  and  rusting. 

i.    What  is  a  scholar  ? 

2.  Psychology. 

a.  What  it  is. 

b.  Its  uses  to  the  teacher. 

c.  Appeal  to  conscience. 

d.  How  it  is  to  be  studied. 

e.  Psychology  and  professional  growth. 

3.  Pedagogy. 

a.  What  it  is. 

b.  Its  uses. 

c.  Its  greatest  use. 

4.  Methodology. 

a.  What  it  is. 

b.  How  it  helps  the  teacher. 

c.  Originality. 

d.  Imitation. 

e.  The  limitations  of  method. 

f.  The  secret  of  success. 

g.  The  nature  of  education. 

5.  Thoughtful  experience. 

a.  Importance. 

b.  Doing  a  condition  of  knowing. 

c.  Brains,  sir. 

d.  The  limitations  of  normal  schools. 

e.  Plato's  ideal  of  culture. 


FITNESS   TO    TEACH  39 

READINGS 

From  Educational  Mosaics.    Arranged  according  to  topical  outline 

I.         The  Teacher  of  the  Future,  p.  212. 
II.  2.    Wanted:  Well-balanced  Minds,  p.  168. 
Cultivated  Manners,  p.  87. 
3.    An  Element  of  Power,  p.  216. 
Indigestible  Knowledge,  p.  39. 
III.         Trained  Teachers,  p.  133. 

Enriching  the  Mind,  p.  199. 
1.    Inspiration  better  than  Instruction,  p.  18. 
1.   b.  The  Teacher  a  Student,  p.  104. 

Intellectual  Living,  p.  122. 
1.   c.  How  I  was  Educated,  p.  49. 
Diligence,  Carlyle,  p.  59. 
Books,  Channing,  p.  63. 
Subsidizing  All  Sources,  p.  220. 

1.  g.  Self-educated  Men,  pp.  115,  187. 

2.  The  Study  of  Psychology,  p.  103. 
Oral  Instruction,  p.  73. 

Natural  Order  of  Development,  p.  225. 
The  Man,  not  the  Mind,  p.  135. 

3.  The  Value  of  Educational  History,  p.  191. 

4.  /.  The  Socratic  Method,  p.  243. 

5.  Theory  and  Practice,  p.  57. 
Man's  Three  Teachers,  p.  68. 
Experience  and  Observation,  p.  69. 

ADDITIONAL  READINGS 

The  Ideal  Schoolmaster.  Morgan's  Studies  in  Pedagogy,  Chap. 
XVIII. 

Personality  in  the  Teacher.     Putnam's  Pedagogics,  Chap.  XII. 

Character  of  the  Teacher.  Howland's  Practical  Hints  for  Teachers, 
Chap.  II. 

Importance  of  Method.  Compayre's  Psychology  applied  to  Educa- 
tion, pp.  92-3.    . 


CHAPTER    III 

RESPONSIBILITY   OF   THE   TEACHER 

u  A  child^  nature  runs  either  to  weeds  or  to  herbs ;  therefore  we 
must  seasonably  water  the  one  and  destroy  the  other."  —  Bacon. 

SECTION    I. A    NEGLECTED    PEAR    TREE 

Some  years  ago,  while  residing  in  the  northeastern  part 
of  Massachusetts,  I  was  the  owner  of  a  small  garden. 
I  had  taken  much  pains  to  improve  the  condition  and 
appearance  of  the  place.  A  woodbine  had  been  care- 
fully trained  upon  the  front  of  the  little  homestead ;  a 
fragrant  honeysuckle,  supported  by  a  trellis,  adorned 
the  doorway ;  a  moss  rose,  a  flowering  almond,  and  the 
lily  of  the  valley,  mingled  their  fragrance  in  the  breath 
of  morn,  —  and  never,  in  my  estimation  at  least,  did  the 
sun  shine  upon  a  lovelier,  happier  spot.  The  morning 
hour  was  spent  in  "  dressing  and  keeping"  the  garden. 
Its  vines  were  daily  watched  and  carefully  trained ;  its 
borders  were  free  from  weeds,  and  the  plants  expanded 
their  leaves  and  opened  their  buds  as  if  smiling  at  the 
approach  of  the  morning  sun.  There  were  fruit  trees, 
too,  which  had  been  brought  from  afar,  and  so  carefully 
nurtured,  that  they  were  covered  with  blossoms,  filling 
the  air  with  their  fragrance  and  awakening  the  fondest 
hopes  of  an  abundant  harvest. 

In  one  corner  of  this  miniature  paradise  there  was 
a  hop  trellis ;  and,  in  the  midst  of  a  bed  of  tansy  hard 

4o 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF   THE    TEACHER  41 

by,  stood  a  small,  knotty,  crooked  pear  tree.  It  had 
stood  there  I  know  not  how  long.  It  was  very  dimin- 
utive in  size;  but  like  those  cedars  which  one  notices 
high  up  the  mountain,  just  on  the  boundary  between 
vegetation  and  eternal  frost,  it  had  every  mark  of  the 
decrepitude  of  age. 

Why  should  this  tree  stand  here  so  unsightly  and 
unfruitful  ?  Why  had  it  escaped  notice  so  long  ?  Its 
bark  had  become  bound  and  cracked;  its  leaves  were 
small  and  curled ;  and  those,  small  as  they  were,  were 
ready  to  be  devoured  by  a  host  of  caterpillars,  whose 
pampered  bodies  were  already  grown  to  the  length  of 
an  inch.  The  tendrils  of  the  hop  vine  had  crept  about 
its  thorny  limbs  and  were  weighing  down  its  growth, 
while  the  tansy  at  its  roots  drank  up  the  refreshing  dew 
and  shut  out  the  genial  ray.     //  was  a  neglected  tree  ! 

"Why  may  not  this  tree  be  pruned?"  No  sooner 
said,  than  the  small  saw  was  taken  from  its  place  and 
the  work  was  commenced.  Commenced?  It  was  hard 
to  determine  where  to  commence.  Its  knotty  branches 
had  grown  thick  and  crooked,  and  there  was  scarcely 
space  to  get  the  saw  between  them.  They  all  seemed 
to  deserve  amputation,  but  then  the  tree  would  have  no 
top.  This  and  that  limb  were  lopped  off  as  the  case 
seemed  to  demand.  The  task  was  neither  easy^-nor 
pleasant.  Sometimes  a  violent  stroke  would  bring 
down  upon  my  own  head  a  shower  of  the  caterpillars; 
again  the  long-cherished  garden  coat  —  threadbare  and 
faded  as  it  was  —  got  caught,  and  before  it  could  be 
disengaged,  what  an  unsightly  rent  had  been  made! 
With  pain  I  toiled  on,  for  one  of  the  unlucky  thorns 
had  pierced  my  thumb;  and  I  might  have  been  said 
to  be  working  on  the  spur  of  the  occasion ! 


42  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

The  hop  vine,  however,  was  removed  from  its  boughs, 
the  tansy  and  weeds  from  its  roots,  the  scales  and  moss 
from  its  bark.  The  thorns  were  carefully  pared  from 
its  limbs,  and  the  caterpillars  were  all  shaken  from  its 
leaves.  The  mold  was  loosened  and  enriched,  and  the 
sun  shone  that  day  upon  a  long  neglected,  but  now  a 
promising  tree. 

The  time  for  grafting  was  not  yet  passed.  One  re- 
putedly skilled  in  that  art  was  called  to  put  the  new 
scion  upon  the  old  stock.  The  work  was  readily  under- 
taken and  speedily  accomplished,  and  the  assurance  was 
given  that  the  Bartlett  Pear  —  that  prince  among 
the  fruits  of  New  England  —  would  one  day  be  gathered 
from  my  neglected  tree. 

With  what  interest  I  watched  the  buds  of  the  scion, 
morning  after  morning,  as  the  month  grew  warmer, 
and  vegetation  all  around  was  "  bursting  into  birth !  " 
With  what  delight  did  I  greet  the  first  opening  of 
those  buds,  and  how  did  I  rejoice  as  the  young  shoots 
put  forth  and  grew  into  a  fresh  green  top !  With 
tender  solicitude  I  cherished  this  tree  for  two  long 
summers;  and  on  the  opening  of  the  third,  my  heart 
was  gladdened  with  the  sight  of  its  first  fruit  blossoms. 
With  care  were  the  weeds  excluded,  the  caterpillars 
exterminated, (the  hop  vine  clipped,  the  bark  rubbed  and 
washed,  the  earth  manured  and  watered.  The  time  of 
fruit  arrived.  The  Bartlett  pear  was  offered  in  our 
market,  —  but  my  pears  were  not  yet  ripe !  With 
anxious  care  they  were  watched  till  the  frost  bade 
the  green  leaves  wither,  and  then  they  were  carefully 
gathered  and  placed  in  the  sunbeams  within  doors. 
They  at  length  turned  yellow,  and  looked  fair  to  the 
sight  and  tempting  to  the  taste ;  and  a  few  friends  who 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF   THE    TEACHER  43 

had  known  their  history  were  invited  to  partake  of 
them.  They  were  brought  forward,  carefully  arranged 
in  the  best  dish  the  humble  domicile  afforded,  and  for- 
mally introduced  as  the  first  fruits  of  the  "  neglected 
tree"  What  was  my  chagrin  and  mortification,  after 
all  my  pains  and  solicitude,  after  all  my  hopes  and  fond 
anticipations,  to  find  they  were  miserable,  tasteless  — 
choke  pears  ! 

This  pear  tree  has  put  me  upon  thinking.  It  has 
suggested  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  moral  garden, 
in  which  there  may  be  fair  flowers  indeed,  but  also  some 
neglected  trees.  The  plants  in  this  garden  may  suffer 
very  much  from  neglect,  —  from  neglect  of  the  gardener. 
It  is  deplorable  to  see  how  many  crooked,  unseemly 
branches  shoot  forth  from  some  of  these  young  trees, 
which  early  might  have  been  trained  to  grow  straight 
and  smooth  by  the  hand  of  cultivation.  Many  a  youth, 
running  on  in  his  own  way,  indulging  in  deception  and 
profanity,  yielding  to  temptation  and  overborne  by  evil 
influences,  polluting  by  his  example,  and  wounding  the 
hearts  of  his  best  friends  as  they  yearn  over  him  for 
good,  has  reminded  me  of  my  neglected  tree,  its  cater- 
pillars, its  roughened  bark,  its  hop-vine,  its  tansy  bed, 
its  cruel,  piercing  thorns.  And  when  I  have  seen  such 
a  youth  brought  under  the  influence  of  the  educator, 
and  have  witnessed  the  progress  he  has  made  and  the 
intellectual  promise  he  has  given  I  have  also  thought 
of  my  neglected  tree.  When,  too,  I  have  followed,  him 
to  the  years  of  maturity,  and  have  found,  as  I  have  too 
often  found,  that  he  brings  not  forth  "the  peaceable 
fruits  of  righteousness,' '  but  that  he  disappoints  all  the 
fondly  cherished  hopes  of  his  friends — perhaps  of  his 
own  teachers  —  because  the   best   principles  were  not 


44  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

engrafted  upon  him,  I  again  think  of  my  neglected  tree, 
and  of  the  unskillful,  perhaps  dishonest  gardener,  who 
acted  as  its  responsible  educator. 

From  the  above  as  a  text,  several  inferences  might 
be  drawn,  i.  Education  is  necessary  to  develop  the 
human  soul.  2.  Education  should  begin  early.  We 
have  too  many  neglected  trees.  3.  It  should  be  right 
education.  4.  The  educator  should  be  a  safe  and  hon- 
est man ;  else  the  education  may  be  all  wrong,  —  may 
be  worse  even  than  the  neglect. 

But  especially  we  may  infer  that 

SECTION    II. THE    TEACHER    IS    RESPONSIBLE 

It  is  the  object  of  the  following  remarks  feebly  to 
illustrate  the  extent  of  the  teacher's  responsibility.  It 
must  all  along  be  borne  in  mind  that  he  is  not  alone 
responsible  for  the  results  of  education.  The  parent 
has  an  overwhelming  responsibility,  which  he  can  never 
part  with  or  transfer  to  another  while  he  holds  the 
relation  of  parent. 

But  the  teacher  is  responsible  in  a  very  high  degree. 
An  important  interest  is  committed  to  his  charge  when- 
ever a  human  being  is  placed  under  his  guidance.  By 
taking  the  position  of  the  teacher,  all  the  responsibility 
of  the  relation  is  voluntarily  assumed ;  and  he  is  fear- 
fully responsible  not  only  for  what  he  does,  but  also  for 
what  he  neglects  to  do.  And  it  is  a  responsibility  from 
which  he  cannot  escape.  Even  though  he  may  have 
thoughtlessly  entered  upon  the  relation  of  teacher,  with- 
out a  single  glance  at  its  obligations ;  or  though,  when 
reminded  of  them,  he  may  laugh  at  the  thought,  and 
disclaim  all  idea  of  being  thus  seriously  held  to  a  fear- 
ful account,  —  yet  still  the  responsibility  is  on  him.    Just 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE    TEACHER  45 

as  true  as  it  is  a  great  thing  to  guide  the  mind  aright,  — 
just  as  true  as  it  is  a  deplorable,  nay,  fatal  thing  to 
lead  it  astray,  —  so  true  is  it  that  he  who  attempts  the 
work,  whether  ignorant  or  skillful,  whether  thoughtless 
or  serious,  incurs  all  the  responsibility  of  success  or 
failure,  —  a  responsibility  he  can  never  shake  off  as  long 
as  the  human  soul  is  immortal,  and  men  are  accountable 
for  such  consequences  of  their  acts  as  are  capable  of 
being  foreseen. 

I.  The  teacher  is  in  a  degree  responsible  for  the  bodily 
health  of  the  child.  It  is  well  established  that  the 
foundation  of  many  serious  diseases  is  laid  in  the  school- 
room. These  diseases  come  sometimes  from  a  neglect 
of  exercise;  sometimes  from  too  long  confinement  in 
one  position,  or  upon  one  study ;  sometimes  from  over- 
excitement  and  overstudy ;  sometimes  from  breathing 
bad  air ;  sometimes  from  being  kept  too  warm  or 
too  cold.  Now  the  teacher  should  be  an  intelligent 
physiologist ;  and  from  a  knowledge  of  what  the  human 
system  can  bear  and  what  it  cannot,  he  is  bound  to 
be  ever  watchful  to  guard  against  all  those  abuses 
from  which  our  children  so  often  suffer.  Especially 
should  he  be  tremblingly  alive  to  avert  that  excitability 
of  the  nervous  system,  the  overaction  of  which  is  so 
fatal  to  future  happiness  of  the  individual.  And  should 
he,  by  appealing  to  the  most  exciting  motives,  encourage 
the  delicate  child  to  press  on  to  grasp  those  subjects 
which  are  too  great  for  its  comprehension,  and  allow 
it  to  neglect  exercise  in  the  open  air  in  order  to  task 
its  feverish  brain  in  the  crowded  and  badly  ventilated 
schoolroom ;  and  then,  in  a  few  days,  be  called  to  look 
upon  the  languishing  sufferer  upon  a  bed  of  exhaustion 
and  pain,  —  perhaps  a  bed  of  premature  death, — could 


46  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

he  say,  "  I  am  not  responsible  "  ?  Parents  and  teachers 
often  err  in  this.  They  are  so  eager  to  develop  a  pre- 
cocious intellect,  that  they  crush  the  casket  in  order  to 
gratify  a  prurient  desire  to  astonish  the  world  with  the 
brilliancy  of  the  gem.  Each  is  responsible  for  his  share 
of  this  sin ;  and  the  teacher  especially,  because  by  his 
education  he  should  know  better. 

II.  The  teacher  is  mainly  responsible  for  the  intel- 
lectual growth  of  the  child.  This  may  be  referred 
chiefly  to  the  following  heads :  — 

i.  The  Order  of  Study.  — There  is  a  natural  order 
in  the  education  of  the  child.  The  teacher  should  know 
this.  If  he  presents  the  subjects  out  of  this  order,  he 
is  responsible  for  the  injury.  In  general  the  elements 
should  be  taught  first.  Those  simple  branches  which 
the  child  first  comprehends  should  first  be  presented. 
Reading,  of  course,  must  be  one  of  the  first;  though  I 
think  the  day  is  not  distant  when  an  enlightened  com- 
munity will  not  condemn  the  teacher,  if,  while  teaching 
reading,  he  should  call  the  child's  attention  by  oral 
instructions  to  such  objects  about  him  as  he  can  com- 
prehend, even  though  in  doing  this  he  should  somewhat 
prolong  the  time  of  learning  to  read.  It  is  indeed  of 
little  consequence  that  the  child  should  read  words 
simply;  and  that  teacher  may  be  viewed  as  pursuing 
the  order  of  nature,  who  so  endeavors  to  develop  the 
powers  of  observation  and  comparison,  that  words  when 
learned  shall  be  the  vehicles  of  ideas. 

Next  to  Reading  and  its  inseparable  companions  — 
Spelling  and  Defining —  I  am  inclined  to  recommend  the 
study  of  Mental  Arithmetic.  The  idea  of  number  is 
one  of  the  earliest  in  the  mind  of  the  child.  He  can  be 
early  taught  to  count,  and  quite  early  to  perform  these 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF   THE    TEACHER  47 

operations  which  we  call  adding,  subtracting,  multiply- 
ing, and  dividing.  This  study  at  first  needs  no  book. 
The  teacher  should  be  thoroughly  versed  in  "  Colburn's 
Intellectual  Arithmetic,"  or  its  equivalent,  and  he  can 
find  enough  to  interest  the  child.  When  the  scholar 
has  learned  to  read,  and  has  attained  the  age  of  six  or 
seven,  he  may  be  allowed  a  book  in  preparing  his  lesson, 
but  never  during  the  recitation.  Those  who  have  not 
tried  this  kind  of  mental  discipline  will  be  astonished 
at  the  facility  which  the  child  acquires  for  performing 
operations  that  often  puzzle  the  adult.  Nor  is  it  an 
unimportant  acquisition.  None  can  tell  its  value  but 
those  who  have  experienced  the  advantage  it  gives  them 
in  future  school  exercises  and  in  business,  over  those 
who  have  never  had  such  training. 

Geography  may  come  next  to  Mental  Arithmetic. 
The  child  should  have  an  idea  of  the  relations  of  size, 
form,  and  space,  as  well  as  number,  before  commencing 
Geography.  These,  however,  he  acquires  naturally  at 
an  early  age ;  and  very  thoroughly,  if  the  teacher  has 
taken  a  little  pains  to  aid  him  on  these  points  in  the 
earliest  stages  of  his  progress.  A  map  is  a  picture,  and 
hence  a  child  welcomes  it.  If  it  can  be  a  map  of  some 
familiar  object,  as  of  his  schoolroom,  of  the  school  dis- 
trict, of  his  father's  orchard  or  farm,  it  becomes  an  object 
of  great  interest.  A  map  of  his  town  is  very  desirable ; 
also  of  his  county  and  of  his  own  state.  Further  detail 
will  be  deferred  here,  as  it  is  only  intended  in  this  place 
to  hint  at  the  order  of  taking  up  the  subjects. 

History  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  Geography. 
Perhaps  no  greater  mistake  is  made  than  that  of 
deferring  History  till  one  of  the  last  things  in  the 
child's  course. 


48  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

Writing  may  be  early  commenced  with  the  pencil 
upon  the  slate,  because  it  is  a  very  useful  exercise  to 
the  child  in  prosecuting  many  of  his  other  studies. 
But  writing  with  a  pen  may  well  be  deferred  till  the 
child  is  ten  years  of  age,  when  the  muscles  shall  have 
acquired  sufficient  strength  to  grasp  and  guide  it. 

Written  Arithmetic  may  succeed  the  mental ;  indeed, 
it  may  he  practiced  along  with  it. 

Composition  —  perhaps  by  another  name,  as  Descrip- 
tion —  should  be  early  commenced  and  very  frequently 
practiced.  The  child  can  be  early  interested  in  this, 
and  he  probably  in  this  way  acquires  a  better  knowl- 
edge of  practical  grammar  than  in  any  other. 

Grammar,  in  my  opinion,  as  a  study,  should  be  one 
of  the  last  of  the  common-school  branches  to  be  taken 
up.  It  requires  more  maturity  of  mind  to  understand 
its  relations  and  dependencies  than  any  other ;  and  that 
which  is  taught  of  grammar  without  such  an  under- 
standing, is  a  mere  smattering  of  technical  terms,  by 
which  the  pupil  is  injured  rather  than  improved.  It 
may  be  said  that  unless  scholars  commence  this  branch 
early,  they  never  wTill  have  the  opportunity  to  learn  it. 
Then  let  it  go  unlearned ;  for  as  far  as  I  have  seen 
the  world,  I  am  satisfied  that  this  early  and  superficial 
teaching  of  a  difficult  subject  is  not  only  useless  but 
positively  injurious.  How  many  there  are  who  study 
grammar  for  years,  and  then  are  obliged  to  confess  in 
after  life,  because  "  their  speech  bewrayeth  "  them,  that 
they  never  understood  it !  How  many,  by  the  too  early 
study  of  an  intricate  branch,  make  themselves  think 
they  understand  it,  and  thus  prevent  the  hope  of  any 
further  advancement  at  the  proper  age !  Grammar, 
then,  should  not  be  studied  too  early. 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE    TEACHER  49 

Of  the  manner  of  teaching  all  these  branches,  I  shall 
have  more  to  say  in  due  time.  At  present  I  have  only 
noticed  the  order  in  which  they  should  be  taken  up. 
This  is  a  question  of  much  consequence  to  the  child, 
and  the  teacher  is  generally  responsible  for  it.  He 
should  therefore  carefully  consider  this  matter,  that 
he  may  be  able  to  decide  aright. 

2.  The  Manner  of  Study.  —  It  is  of  quite  as  much 
importance  how  we  study,  as  what  we  study.  Indeed,  I 
have  thought  that  much  of  the  difference  among  men 
could  be  traced  to  their  different  habits  of  study,  formed 
in  youth.  A  large  portion  of  our  scholars  study  for  the 
sake  of  preparing  to  recite  the  lesson.  They  seem  to 
have  no  idea  of  any  object  beyond  recitation.  The  con- 
sequence is,  they  study  mechanically.  They  endeavor 
to  remember  phraseology,  rather  than  principles ;  they 
study  the  book,  not  the  subject.  Let  any  one  enter  our 
schools  and  see  the  scholars  engaged  in  preparing  their 
lessons.  Scarcely  one  will  be  seen,  who  is  not  repeating 
over  and  over  again  the  words  of  the  text,  as  if  there 
was  a  saving  charm  in  repetition.  Observe  the  same 
scholars  at  recitation,  and  it  is  a  struggle  of  the  memory 
to  recall  the  forms  of  words.  The  vacant  countenance 
too  often  indicates  that  they  are  words  without  meaning. 
This  difficulty  is  very  much  increased  if  the  teacher  is 
confined  to  the  text-book  during  recitation  ;  and  ^par- 
ticularly if  he  relies  mainly  upon  the  printed  questions 
so  often  found  at  the  bottom  of  the  page. 

The  scholar  should  be  encouraged  to  study  the  sub- 
ject ;  and  his  book  should  be  held  merely  as  the  instru- 
ment. "  Books  are  but  helps,"  is  a  good  motto  for 
every  student.  The  teacher  should  often  tell  how  the 
lesson  should  be  learned.     His  precept  in  this  matter 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  4 


50  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

will  often  be  of  use.  Some  scholars  will  learn  a  lesson 
in  one  tenth  of  the  time  required  by  others.  Human 
life  is  too  short  to  have  any  of  it  employed  to  disad- 
vantage. The  teacher,  then,  should  inculcate  such 
habits  of  study  as  are  valuable ;  and  he  should  be  par- 
ticularly careful  to  break  up,  in  the  recitations,  those 
habits  which  are  so  grossly  mechanical.  A  child  may 
almost  be  said  to  be  educated,  who  has  learned  to  study 
aright;  while  one  may  have  acquired  in  the  mechanical 
way  a  great  amount  of  knowledge,  and  yet  have  no 
profitable  mental  discipline. 

For  this  difference  in  children,  as  well  as  in  men,  the 
teacher  is  more  responsible  than  any  other  person.  Let 
him  carefully  consider  this  matter. 

3.  Collateral  Study.  —  Books,  to  be  sure,  are  to 
be  studied,  and  studied  chiefly,  in  most  of  our  schools. 
But  there  is  much  for  the  teacher  to  do  toward  the 
growth  of  the  mind  which  is  not  to  be  found  in  the 
schoolbooks ;  and  it  is  the  practical  recognition  of  this 
fact  which  constitutes  the  great  difference  in  teachers. 
Truth,  in  whatever  department,  is  open  to  the  faithful 
teacher.  And  there  is  such  a  thing,  even  in  the  pres- 
ent generation,  as  " opening  the  eyes  of  the  blind"  to 
discover  things  new  and  old,  in  nature,  in  the  arts,  in 
history,  in  the  relation  of  things.  Without  diminishing, 
in  the  least,  the  progress  of  the  young  in  study,  their 
powers  of  observation  may  be  cultivated,  their  percep- 
tion quickened,  their  relish  for  the  acquisition  of  knowl- 
edge indefinitely  increased,  by  the  instrumentality  of 
the  teacher.  This  must  of  course  be  done  adroitly. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  excessively  cramming  the 
mind  of  a  child,  till  he  loathes  everything  in  the  way 
of  acquisition.     There  is  such  a  thing,  too,  as  exciting 


RESPONSIBILITY   OF  THE    TEACHER  51 

an  all-pervading  interest  in  a  group  of  children,  so  that 
the  scholar  shall  welcome  the  return  of  school  hours, 
and,  by  his  cheerful  step  and  animated  eye  as  he  seeks 
the  schoolhouse,  disclaim  as  false  when  applied  to  him 
the  language  of  the  poet  who  described  the  schoolboy 
of  his  darker  day,  — 

"with  his  satchel, 

And  shining  morning  face,  creeping,  like  snail. 

Unwillingly  to  school.'" 

The  teacher,  who  is  responsible  for  such  a  result, 
should  take  care  to  store  his  own  mind  with  the  material, 
and  exercise  the  ingenuity  to  do  that  which  is  of  so 
much  consequence  to  the  scholar.  The  chapter  on 
" Waking  up  Mind"  will  give  some  further  hints  to 
the  young  teacher. 

III.    The  teacher  is  in  a   degree   responsible  for  the 

MORAL    TRAINING    of  the   child. 

I  say  in  a  degree,  because  it  is  confessed  that  in 
this  matter  very  much  likewise  depends  upon  parental 
influence. 

This  education  of  the  heart  is  confessedly  too  much 
neglected  in  all  our  schools.  It  has  often  been  re- 
marked that  "  knowledge  is  power/'  and  as  truly  that 
"  knowledge  without  principle  to  regulate  it  may  make 
a  man  a  powerful  villain.' '  It  is  all-important  that^ur 
youth  should  early  receive  such  moral  training  as  shall 
make  it  safe  to  give  them  knowledge.  Very  much  of 
this  work  must  devolve  upon  the  teacher;  or  rather, 
when  he  undertakes  to  teach  he  assumes  the  responsi- 
bility of  doing  or  of  neglecting  this  work. 

The  precept  of  the  teacher  may  do  much  toward 
teaching  the  child  his  duty  to  God,  to  himself,  and  to 
his    fellow-beings.     But   it   is   not   mainly   by   precept 


52  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

that  this  is  to  be  done.  Sermons  and  homilies  are 
but  little  heeded  in  the  schoolroom ;  and  unless  the 
teacher  has  some  other  mode  of  reaching  the  feelings 
and  the  conscience,  he  may  despair  of  being  successful 
in  moral  training. 

The  teacher  should  be  well  versed  in  human  nature. 
He  should  know  the  power  of  conscience  and  the  means 
of  reaching  it.  He  should  himself  have  deep  principle. 
His  example  in  everything  before  his  school  should  be 
pure,  flowing  out  from  the  purity  of  his  soul.  He 
should  ever  manifest  the  tenderest  regard  to  the  law 
of  right  and  of  love.  He  should  never  violate  his  own 
sense  of  justice,  nor  outrage  that  of  his  pupils.  Such 
a  man  teaches  by  his  example.  He  is  a  "  living  epistle, 
known  and  read  of  all.''  He  teaches,  as  he  goes  in  and 
out  before  the  school,  as  words  can  never  teach. 

The  moral  feelings  of  children  are  capable  of  sys- 
tematic and  successful  cultivation.  Our  muscles  ac- 
quire strength  by  use ;  it  is  so  with  our  intellectual  and 
moral  faculties.  We  educate  the  power  of  calculation 
by  continued  practice,  so  that  the  proficient  adds  the 
long  column  of  figures  almost  with  the  rapidity  of  sight, 
and  with  infallible  accuracy.  So  with  the  moral  feel- 
ings. "  The  more  frequently  we  use  our  conscience," 
says  Dr.  Wayland,  "  in  judging  between  actions,  as 
right  and  wrong,  the  more  easily  shall  we  learn  to  judge 
correctly  concerning  them.  He  who,  before  every 
action,  will  deliberately  ask  himself,  '  Is  this  right  or 
wrong?'  will  seldom  mistake  what  is  his  duty.  And 
children  may  do  this  as  well  as  grown  persons."  Let 
the  teacher  appeal  as  often  as  may  be  to  the  pupil's 
conscience  In  a  thousand  ways  can  this  be  done,  and 
it  is  a  duty  the  faithful  teacher  owes  to  his  scholars. 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE    TEACHER  53 

By  such  methods  of  cultivating  the  conscience  as  the 
judicious  teacher  may  devise,  and  by  his  own  pure  ex- 
ample, what  may  he  not  accomplish  ?  If  he  loves  the 
truth,  and  ever  speaks  the  truth ;  if  he  is  ever  frank 
and  sincere ;  if,  in  a  word,  he  shows  that  he  has  a  ten- 
der conscience  in  all  things,  and  that  he  always  refers 
to  it  for  its  approval  in  all  his  acts,  —  what  an  influence 
does  he  exert  upon  'the  impressible  minds  under  his 
guidance !  How  those  children  will  observe  his  con- 
sistent course ;  and,  though  they  may  not  speak  of  it, 
how  great  will  be  its  silent  power  upon  the  formation 
of  their  characters !  And  in  future  years,  when  they 
ripen  into  maturity,  how  will  they  remember  and  bless 
the  example  they  shall  have  found  so  safe  and  salutary ! 

Responsibility  in  this  matter  cannot  be  avoided.  The 
teacher  by  his  example  does  teach,  for  good  or  for  evil, 
whether  he  will  or  not.  Indifference  will  not  excuse 
him ;  for  when  most  indifferent  he  is  not  less  account- 
able. And  if  his  example  be  pernicious,  as  too  often 
even  yet  the  example  of  the  teacher  is  ;  if  he  indulges 
in  outbreaks  of  passion,  or  wanders  in  the  mazes  of  de- 
ceitfulness ;  if  the  blasphemous  oath  pollutes  his  tongue, 
or  the  obscene  jest  poisons  his  breath ;  if  he  trifles  with 
the  feelings  or  the  rights  of  others,  and  habitually  vio- 
lates his  own  conscience, — what  a  blighting  influence 
is  his  for  all  coming  time ! 

With  all  the  attachment  which  young  pupils  will  cher- 
ish even  toward  a  bad  teacher,  and  with  all  the  confi- 
dence they  will  repose  in  him,  who  can  describe  the 
mischief  which  he  can  accomplish  in  one  short  term  ? 
The  school  is  no  place  for  a  man  without  principle ;  I 
repeat,  the  school  is  no  place  for  a  man  without 
principle.     Let  such  a  man  seek  a  livelihood  anywhere 


54  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

else  ;  or,  failing  to  gain  it  by  other  means,  let  starvation 
seize  the  body  and  send  the  soul  back  to  its  Maker  as  it 
is,  rather  than  he  should  incur  the  fearful  guilt  of  poison- 
ing youthful  minds  and  dragging  them  down  to  his  own 
pitiable  level.  If  there  can  be  one  sin  greater  than  an- 
other, on  which  Heaven  frowns  with  more  awful  dis- 
pleasure, it  is  that  of  leading  the  young  into  principles 
of  error  and  the  debasing  practices  of  vice. 

"  Oh,  woe  to  those  who  trample  on  the  mind, 
That  deathless  thing  !     They  know  not  what  they  do, 
Nor  what  they  deal  with.     Man,  perchance,  may  bind 
The  flower  his  step  hath  bruised  ;  or  light  anew 
The  torch  he  quenches  ;  or  to  music  wind 
Again  the  lyre-string  from  his  touch  that  flew ;  — 
But  for  the  soul,  oh,  tremble  and  beware 
To  lay  rude  hands  upon  God's  mysteries  there! " 

Let  then  the  teacher  study  well  his  motives  when  he 
enters  this  profession,  and  so  let  him  meet  his  responsi- 
bility in  this  matter  as  to  secure  the  approval  of  his 
own  conscience  and  his  God. 

IV.  The  teacher  is  to  some  extent  responsible  for  the 
religious  training  of  the  young. 

We  live  in  a  Christian  land.  It  is  our  glory,  if  not 
our  boast,  that  we  have  descended  from  an  ancestry 
that  feared  God  and  reverenced  His  word.  Very  justly 
we  attribute  our  superiority  as  a  people  over  those  who 
dwell  in  the  darker  portions  of  the  world,  to  our  purer 
faith  derived  from  that  precious  fountain  of  truth  —  the 
Bible.  Very  justly,  too,  does  the  true  patriot  and  phi- 
lanthropist rely  upon  our  faith  and  practice  as  a  Chris- 
tian people  for  the  permanence  of  our  free  institutions 
and  our  unequaled  social  privileges. 

If  we  are  so  much  indebted,  then,  to  the  Christian 


f  Ojf     lflK 

RESPONSIBILITY   OF    THE    TEACHER\^ '^j^1^- 

religion  for  what  we  are,  and  so  much  dependent  upon 
its  life-giving  truths  for  what  we  may  hope  to  be,  —  how 
important  is  it  that  all  our  youth  should  be  nurtured 
under  its  influences  ! 

When  I  say  religious  training,  I  do  not  mean  secta- 
rianism. In  our  public  schools,  supported  at  the  public 
expense,  and  in  which  the  children  of  all  denominations 
meet  for  instruction,  I  do  not  think  that  any  man  has 
a  right  to  crowd  his  own  peculiar  notions  of  theology 
upon  all,  whether  they  are  acceptable  or  not.  Yet 
there  is  common  ground  which  he  can  occupy  and  to 
which  no  reasonable  man  can  object.  He  can  teach 
a  reverence  for  the  Supreme  Being,  a  reverence  for 
His  Holy  Word,  for  the  influences  of  His  Spirit,  for 
the  character  and  teachings  of  the  Savior,  and  for  the 
momentous  concerns  of  eternity.  He  can  teach  the 
evil  of  sin  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  the  awful  conse- 
quences of  it  upon  the  individual.  He  can  teach  the 
duty  of  repentance  and  the  privilege  of  forgiveness. 
He  can  teach  our  duty  to  worship  God,  to  obey  His 
laws,  to  seek  the  guidance  of  His  Spirit  and  the  salva- 
tion by  His  Son.  He  can  illustrate  the  blessedness  of 
the  divine  life,  the  beauty  of  holiness,  and  the  joyful 
hope  of  heaven  ;  —  and  to  all  this  no  reasonable  man 
will  be  found  to  object,  so  long  as  it  is  done  in  a  truly 
Christian  spirit. 

If  not  in  express  words,  most  certainly  his  life  and 
example  should  teach  this.  Man  is  a  religious  being. 
The  religious  principle  should  be  early  cultivated.  It 
should  be  safely  and  carefully  cultivated ;  and,  as  this 
cultivation  is  too  often  entirely  neglected  by  parents, 
unless  it  is  attempted  by  the  teacher,  in  many  cases  it 
will  never  be  effected  at  all. 


56  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

Of  course  all  those  points  which  separate  the  com- 
munity into  sects  must  be  left  to  the  family,  the  Sab- 
bath school,  and  the  pulpit.  The  teacher  is  responsible 
for  his  honesty  in  this  matter.  While  he  has  no  right 
to  lord  it  over  the  private  conscience  of  any  one,  he  is 
inexcusable,  if,  believing  the  great  truths  of  the  Bible, 
he  puts  them  away  as  if  they  concerned  him  not.  They 
should  command  his  faith,  and  govern  his  conduct ;  and 
their  claims  upon  the  young  should  not  be  disowned. 

At  any  rate  the  teacher  should  be  careful  that  his 
teaching  and  his  example  do  not  prejudice  the  youthful 
mind  against  these  truths.  It  is  a  hazardous  thing  for 
a  man  to  be  skeptical  by  himself,  even  when  he  locks 
his  opinions  up  in  the  secrecy  of  his  own  bosom ;  how 
great  then  is  the  responsibility  of  teaching  the  young 
to  look  lightly  upon  the  only  book  that  holds  out  to  us 
the  faith  of  immortality,  and  opens  to  us  the  hope  of 
heaven !  Let  the  teacher  well  consider  this  matter, 
and  take  heed  that  his  teaching  shall  never  lead  one 
child  of  earth  away  from  his  heavenly  Father,  or  from 
the  rest  of  the  righteous  in  the  home  of  the  blest. 

In  view  of  what  has  been  said,  the  young  candidate 
for  the  teacher's  office,  almost  in  despair  of  success, 
may  exclaim,  "Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things?" 
"  Who  can  meet  and  sustain  such  responsibility  ?  "  My 
answer  is,  the  true  inquirer  after  duty  will  not  go  astray. 
He  is  insufficient  for  these  things,  who  is  self-confident, 
who  has  not  yet  learned  his  own  weakness,  who  has 
never  found  out  his  own  faults,  and  who  rushes  to 
this  great  work  as  the  unheeding  "  horse  rusheth  into 
the  battle,"  not  knowing  whither  he  goeth.  Alas,  how 
many  there  are  who  enter  this  profession  without  the 
exercise  of  a  single  thought  of   the  responsibility  of 


RESPONSIBILITY   OF   THE    TEACHER  $J 

the  position,  or  of  any  of  the  many  great  questions 
which  must  in  their  schools  for  the  first  time  be  pre- 
sented for  their  decision !  How  many  there  are  who 
never  reflect  upon  the  incalculable  influence  of  their 
example  before  the  young,  and  are  scarcely  conscious 
that  their  example  is  of  any  consequence  whatso- 
ever ! 

Such,  in  the  highest  sense,  will  fail  of  success.  How 
can  they  be  expected  to  go  right,  where  there  is  only 
one  right  way  but  a  thousand  wrong  ?  Let  such  per- 
sons pause  and  consider  before  they  assume  responsi- 
bilities which  they  can  neither  discharge  nor  evade. 
Let  such  ask  with  deep  solicitude,  "Who  is  sufficient 
for  these  things  ? " 

But  to  the  young  person  really  desirous  of  improve- 
ment; to  him  who  has  taken  the  first  and  important 
step  toward  knowledge  by  making  the  discovery  that 
everything  is  not  already  known ;  to  him  who  sees 
beforehand  that  there  are  real  difficulties  in  this  pro- 
fession, and  who  is  not  too  proud  or  self-conceited  to 
feel  the  need  of  special  preparation  to  meet  them ;  to 
him  who  has  some  idea  of  the  power  of  example  in 
the  educator,  and  who  desires  most  of  all  things  that 
his  character  shall  be  so  pure  as  to  render  his  example 
safe ;  to  him  who  has  discovered  that  there  are  some 
deep  mysteries  in  human  nature,  and  that  they  are 
only  to  be  fathomed  by  careful  study;  to  him  who 
really  feels  that  a  great  thing  is  to  be  done,  and  who 
has  the  sincere  desire  to  prepare  himself  to  do  it 
aright ;  to  him,  in  short,  who  has  the  true  spirit  of  the 
teacher,  —  I  may  say,  there  is  nothing  to  fear.  An 
honest  mind,  with  the  requisite  industry,  is  sufficient 
for  these  things. 


58  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

SECTION    III.  —  THE    AUBURN    STATE    PRISON 

During  my  visit  at  Auburn  in  the  autumn  of  1845, 
I  was  invited  by  a  friend  to  visit  the  prison,  in  which 
at  that  time  were  confined  between  six  and  seven  hun- 
dred convicts.  I  was  first  taken  through  the  various 
workshops,  where  the  utmost  neatness  and  order  pre- 
vailed. As  I  passed  along,  my  eye  rested  upon  one 
after  another  of  the  convicts,  I  confess,  with  a  feeling 
of  surprise.  There  were  many  good-looking  men.  If, 
instead  of  their  party-colored  dress,  they  could  have 
been  clothed  in  the  citizen's  garb,  I  should  have  thought 
them  as  good  in  appearance  as  laboring  men  in  gen- 
eral. And  when,  to  their  good  appearance,  was  added 
their  attention  to  their  work,  their  ingenuity,  and  the 
neatness  of  their  workrooms,  my  own  mind  began  to 
press  the  inquiry,  Why  are  these  men  here  ?  It  was  the 
afternoon  of  Saturday.  Many  of  them  had  completed 
their  allotted  work  for  the  week,  and  with  happy  faces 
were  performing  the  customary  ablutions  preparatory  to 
the  Sabbath.  Passing  on,  we  came  to  the  library,  —  a 
collection  of  suitable  books  for  the  convicts,  which  are 
given  out  as  a  reward  for  diligence  to  those  who  have 
seasonably  and  faithfully  performed  their  labor.  Here 
were  many  who  had  come  to  take  their  books.  Their 
faces  beamed  with  delight  as  they  each  bore  away  the 
desired  volume,  just  as  I  had  seen  the  faces  of  the 
happy  and  the  free  do  before.  Why  are  these  men 
here  ?  was  again  pressed  upon  me ;  —  Why  are  these 
men  here? 

At  this  time  the  famous  Wyatt,  since  executed  upon 
the  gallows  for  his  crime,  was  in  solitary  confinement, 
awaiting  his  trial  for  the  murder  of  Gordon,  a  fellow- 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE    TEACHER  59 

prisoner.  I  was  permitted  to  enter  his  room.  Chained 
to  the  floor,  he  was  reclining  upon  his  mattress  in  the 
middle  of  his  apartment.  As  I  approached  him,  his 
large  black  eye  met  mine.  He  was  a  handsome  man. 
His  head  was  well  developed,  his  long  black  hair  hung 
upon  his  neck,  and  his  eye  was  one  of  the  most  intelli- 
gent I  ever  beheld.  Had  I  seen  him  in  the  Senate 
among  great  men,  —  had  I  seen  him  in  a  school  of 
philosophers,  or  a  brotherhood  of  poets,  I  should  prob- 
ably have  selected  him  as  the  most  remarkable  man 
among  them  all,  without  suspecting  his  distinction  to 
be  a  distinction  of  villainy.  Why  is  that  man  here? 
thought  I,  as  I  turned  away  to  leave  him  to  his  dread- 
ful solitude. 

The  morrow  was  the  Sabbath.  I  could  not  repress 
my  desire  to  see  the  convicts  brought  together  for  wor- 
ship. At  the  hour  of  nine  I  entered  their  chapel  and 
found  them  all  seated  in  silence.  I  was  able  to  see 
most  of  the  faces  of  this  interesting  congregation.  It 
was  by  no  means  the  worst-looking  congregation  I  had 
ever  seen.  There  were  evidently  bad  men  there;  but 
what  congregation  of  free  men  does  not  present  some 
such  ? 

They  awaited  in  silence  the  commencement  of  the 
service.  When  the  morning  hymn  was  read,  they 
joined  in  the  song,  the  chorister  being  a  colored  man 
of  their  own  number.  They  sang  as  other  congrega- 
tions sing,  and  my  voice  joined  with  theirs.  The 
Scripture  was  read.  They  gave  a  respectful  attention. 
The  prayer  was  begun.  Some  bowed  in  apparent  rever- 
ence at  the  commencement.  Others  sat  erect,  and  two 
or  three  of  these  appeared  to  be  the  hardened  sons  of 
crime.     The  chaplain's  voice  was  of  a  deep,  perhaps  I 


60  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

should  say  a  fatherly,  tone,  and  he  seemed  to  have  the 
father's  spirit.  He  prayed  for  these  "  wayward  ones," 
who  were  deprived  of  their  liberty  for  their  offenses, 
but  whom  God  would  welcome  to  his  throne  of  mercy. 
He  prayed  for  their  homes,  and  for  their  friends  who 
this  day  would  send  their  thoughts  hither  in  remem- 
brance of  those  in  bonds.  He  alluded  to  the  scenes  of 
their  childhood,  the  solicitude  of  their  early  friends,  and 
the  affection  of  their  parents.  When  the  words  home, 
friend,  childhood,  were  heard,  several  of  those  sturdy 
sons  of  crime  and  wretchedness  instinctively  bowed 
their  heads  and  concealed  their  faces  in  their  hands; 
and  as  a  fathers  blessing  and  a  mother's  love  were 
alluded  to,  more  than  one  of  these  outcasts  from  society 
were  observed  to  dash  the  scalding  tear  from  the  eye. 
These  men  feel  like  other  men,  —  why  are  they  here  ? 
was  again  the  thought  which  forced  itself  upon  my 
mind ;  and  while  the  chaplain  proceeded  to  his  sermon, 
in  the  midst  of  the  silence  that  pervaded  the  room  my 
mind  ran  back  to  their  educators.  Once  these  men 
were  children  like  others.  They  had  feelings  like  other 
children,  affection,  reverence,  teachableness,  conscience, 
—  why  are  they  here?  Some,  very  likely,  on  account 
of  their  extraordinary  perversity ;  but  most  because 
they  had  a  wrong  education.  More  than  half,  undoubt- 
edly, have  violated  the  laws  of  their  country,  not  from 
extraordinary  viciousness  but  from  the  weakness  of  their 
moral  principle.  Tempted  just  like  other  and  better 
men,  they  fell,  because  in  early  childhood  no  one  had 
cultivated  and  strengthened  the  conscience  God  had 
given  them.  I  am  not  disposed  to  excuse  the  vices 
of  men,  nor  to  screen  them  from  merited  punishment ; 
neither  do  I  worship  a  "  painted  morality  "  based  solely 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE    TEACHER  6 1 

upon  education,  thus  leaving  nothing  for  the  religion 
of  the  Bible  to  accomplish  by  purifying  the  heart,  that 
fountain  of  wickedness ;  yet  how  many  of  these  men 
might  have  been  saved  to  society ;  how  many  of  them 
have  powers  wThich  under  different  training  might  have 
adorned  and  blessed  their  race;  how  many  of  them  may 
date  their  fall  to  the  evil  influence  and  poisonous  ex- 
ample of  some  guide  of  their  childhood,  some  recreant 
teacher  of  their  early  days,  —  God  only  knows !  But 
what  a  responsibility  still  rests  upon  the  head  of  any 
such  teacher,  if  he  did  not  know  or  did  not  try  to  know 
the  avenue  to  their  hearts;  if  he  did  not  feel  or  try  to 
feel  the  worth  of  moral  principle  to  these  very  fallen 
ones!  And  what  would  be  his  feelings  if  he  could  look 
back  through  the  distant  days  of  the  past  and  count  up 
exactly  the  measure  of  his  own  faithfulness  and  of  his 
own  neglect  ?  This  the  all-seeing  eye  alone  can  do,  — 
this  He  who  looketh  upon  the  heart  ever  does ! 

Teachers,  go  forth,  then,  conscious  of  your  responsi- 
bility to  your  pupils,  conscious  of  your  accountability 
to  God,  go  forth  and  teach  this  people ;  and  endeavor 
so  to  teach,  that  when  you  meet  your  pupils,  not  in  the 
walks  of  life  merely,  not  perhaps  in  the  Auburn  Prison, 
not  indeed  upon  the  shores  of  time,  but  at  the  final 
Judgment,  where  you  must  meet  them  all,  you  may  b£^ 
able  to  give  a  good  account  of  the  influence  which  you 
have  exerted  over  mind.  As  it  may  then  be  forever  too 
late  to  correct  your  errors  and  efface  any  injury  done, 
study  now  to  act  the  part  of  wisdom  and  the  part  of  love. 

Study  the  human  heart  by  studying  the  workings  of 
your  own ;  seek  carefully  the  avenues  to  the  affections ; 
study  those  higher  motives  which  elevate  and  ennoble 
the  soul ;   cultivate  that  purity  which  shall  allure  the 


62  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

wayward,  by  bright  example,  from  the  paths  of  error ; 
imbue  your  own  souls  with  the  love  of  teaching  and  the 
greatness  of  your  work ;  rely  not  alone  upon  yourselves, 
as  if  by  your  own  wisdom  and  might  you  could  do  this 
great  thing ;  but  seek  that  direction  which  our  heavenly 
Father  never  withholds  from  the  honest  inquirer  after 
his  guidance,  —  and  though  the  teacher's  work  is,  and 
ever  must  be,  attended  with  overwhelming  responsibility, 

YOU    WILL    BE    SUFFICIENT    FOR    THESE    THINGS. 

TOPICAL  QUIZ 

I.    The  Neglected  Pear  Tree. 

(i)  How  is   neglected   youth  like  the   neglected 
pear  tree  ? 

(2)  State  the  inferences  to  be  drawn. 
II.    The  Responsibility  of  the  Teacher. 

(3)  Who  shares  responsibility  with  the  teacher? 

(4)  Indicate  the  great  responsibility  of  the  teacher. 

(See  also  pp.  22-24,  32-33.) 

(5)  State   four  matters   in  which   the  teacher  is 

partly  or  mainly  responsible. 

A.  The  teacher  is  partly  responsible  for  the  bodily  health  of 

the  child. 

(6)  State   the  ways    in   which   the    teacher    can 

damage  a  pupil's  bodily  health. 

(7)  What  subject  does  the  teacher  need  to  know? 

B.  The  teacher  is  mainly  responsible  for  the  intellectual  growth 

of  the  pupil. 

(8)  Why    does    this    responsibility    fall    on    the 

teacher? 

(9)  What  three  things  does  the  teacher  determine 

about  the  child's  studies  ? 
I.   What  the  child  studies. 

(10)  In  what  order  should  subjects  be  presented? 
Why? 

Read  :  "  Laws  of  Development,"  Putnam's 
Manual  of  Pedagogics,  p.  86.  "  Selection 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE    TEACHER  63 

and  Arrangement    of  Studies,"   Idem, 
p.  269. 

(11)  Schedule  the  order  of  studies  suggested  by 

Mr.  Page. 

(12)  What  is  reading?     What  is  an  essential  part 

of  reading?     (See  also  pp.  80-81.) 

(13)  What  is  a  map?    When  are  maps  being  studied 

properly?     (See  also  p.  82.) 

(14)  State    the    objections    to    studying    technical 

grammar  too  early. 

(15)  What  are  the  values  of  grammar  study  ? 

2.  How  the  child  studies. 

(16)  State  the  importance  of  learning  how  to  study. 

(17)  Some  bad  habits  of  study  ?     Remedies? 

(18)  Some  good  habits  of  study  ? 

3.  The  child' ]s  interest  in  collateral  studies. 

(19)  What  is  meant  by  collateral  studies  ? 

(20)  Why  are  they  important  ? 

Read :  Arnold's  Waymarks  for  Teachers, 
pp.  9-17. 

(21)  When  and  how  are  the  lessons  to  be  given  ? 

(See  Page's  "Waking  Up  Mind,"  Sec.  IV. 
p.  120.) 

C.  The  teacher  is  in  a  degree  responsible  for  the  moral  train- 

ing of  the  child. 

(22)  What  is  meant  by  moral  training  ? 

Read :  Putnam's  Manual  of  Pedagogics, 
pp.  80-84;  Idem,  pp.  98-102;  Idem, 
pp.  222-252. 

(23)  The  effect  of  knowledge  without  moral  prin- 

ciple ? 
Read  :  Hufford's  Ruskin,  p.  437. 

(24)  The  effect  of  moral  precepts  ? 

(25)  The  effects  of  example  ?     (See  also  p.  53.) 

(26)  What  is  conscience  ?     (Putnam,  p.  80.) 

(27)  How  can  the  conscience  be  developed  ?     (See 

also  p.  196.) 

D.  The  teacher  is  to  some  extent  responsible  for  the  religious 

training  of  the  child. 


64  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

(28)  What  religious  lessons  can  be  taught  in  any 

school  ?     How  ? 

(29)  Where  must  the  burden  of  religious  teaching 

rest  mainly  ? 

(30)  What  must  be  avoided  ? 

(31)  Dangers  of  skepticism  in  the  teacher. 

(32)  Dangers  of  indifference  about  religious  mat 

ters. 

(33)  "  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?  " 

III.    The  Auburn  State  Prison. 

(34)  What  Page  saw  there. 

(35)  "Why  are  these  men  here  ?" 

(36)  The  teacher's  responsibility. 

WRITTEN   EXERCISES 

1.  Some  Lessons  about  education,  learned  from  plants. 

Laurie's  Comenius. 

2.  The  natural  order  in  which  a  child's  mind  develops. 

Putnam's  Manual  of  Pedagogics,  p.  86. 

3.  Traits  in   children   indicative   of  future   criminality. 

McDonald's  Abnormal  Man.     Dept.  of  Education, 
Washington,  D.C, 

PAGE'S   ORDER   OF   STUDIES 
(WITH   BRIEF   NOTES) 

I.  Reading. 

To  be  begun  at  once  when  the  beginner  enters 

school. 
By  the  word  and  sentence  method.     (See  Ar- 
nold's Waymarks  for  Teachers,  Chap.  III.) 
The  words  learned  must  be  vehicles  of  ideas. 
Frequently  call  for  the  thought  in  the  pupil's 
own  words.     This  throughout  the  course. 
(i)  The  elements. 

That  is,  the  forms,  sounds,  and  names  of 
the  letters. 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE    TEACHER  6$ 

These  to  be  learned  gradually  after  the  pupil  has 
begun  to  read.  (See  Branson's  Methods  in  Read- 
ing and  Spelling.) 

(2)  Writing. 

In  connection  with  reading  from  the  first. 
Later,  in  seat-work  exercises  in  all  the  school  sub- 
jects. 

(3)  Spelling. 

Mainly  in  connection  with  reading  at  first. 

Later,  in  direct  connection  with  all  the  school  studies. 

(4)  Definition. 

That   is,  oral   or  written   sentences  illustrating  the 

meaning  and  use  of  all  unfamiliar  words. 
First,  with  the  Reader  ;  later,  in  all  lessons. 

(5)  Observation  lessons  (collateral  studies). 

In  connection  with  the  Reading  lessons  —  whenever 

occasions  arise. 
Also  in  such   other  ways   as  Page  suggests  in  his 

chapter  on  "Waking  Up  Mind."     (See  Arnold's 

Waymarks  for  Teachers,  Chap.  I.) 

(6)  Language  Lessons  (Composition) . 

In  such  ways  as  are  indicated  above.  (See  Arnold's 
Waymarks  for  Teachers,  Chap.  II.) 

2.  Mental  Arithmetic. 

Taught  beginners,  from  objects,  orally,  without  books. 
Colburn's  Mental  Arithmetic,  recommended  for  the  teacher's 
use.    (See  Branson's  Methods  in  Arithmetic,  Chaps.  II., 

mo 

3.  Written  Arithmetic. 

Accompanied  by  mental  arithmetic  exercises  at  every  step 
of  the  way. 

4.  Geography. 

Conversation  lessons  with  primary  pupils. 

About    topics    in    "Home    Geography."       (See    Georgia 

Teachers'  Manual,  pp.  88-98.) 
Geography  book  begun  with  Third  or  Fourth  Reader  classes. 

5.  History. 

Begun  early  with  biographical  stories  and  incidents.     Good 
material  for  language  lessons. 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  5 


66  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

In  connection  with  geography  all  the  time.      Locate  every- 
thing. 
6.    Technical  Grammar. 

Begun  when  reasonable  effort  will  enable  the  child  to  under- 
stand it. 

Useful  as  a  discipline  in  thinking  and  in  interpreting  thought. 

Also  useful  in  preventing  or  correcting  bad  habits  of  speech. 

"  That  the  leading  object  of  the  study  of  English  Grammar 
is  to  teach  the  correct  use  of  the  English  Language  is,  in 
my  opinion,  an  error,  and  one  which  is  gradually  becoming 
removed.  One  must  be  a  reflective  user  of  language  to 
amend  even  here  and  there  a  point  by  grammatical  rea- 
sons. No  one  ever  changed  from  a  bad  speaker  to  a  good 
one  by  applying  rules  of  grammar  to  what  he  said." 

—  Dr.  Whitney. 


CHAPTER   IV 

PERSONAL  HABITS   OF  THE   TEACHER 

"  I  would  have  him  first  of  all  to  be  well  bred  and  well  tempered. " 
—  John  Locke. 

"  Your  manners  are  always  under  examination,  and  by  commit- 
tees little  suspected ;  but  they  are  awarding  or  denying  you  very 
high  prizes  when  you  least  think  of  it."  —  Emerson. 

The  importance  of  correct  habits  to  any  individual 
cannot  be  overrated.  The  influence  of  the  teacher  is  so 
great  upon  the  children  under  his  care,  either  for  good 
or  evil,  that  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  them  as 
well  as  to  himself  that  his  habits  should  be  unexception- 
able. It  is  the  teacher's  sphere  to  improve  the  commu- 
nity in  which  he  moves,  not  only  in  learning,  but  in 
morals  and  manners ;  in  everything  that  is  "  lovely  and 
of  good  report."  This  he  may  do  partly  by  precept,  — 
but  very  much  by  example.  He  teaches,  wherever  he  is. 
His  manners,  his  appearance,  his  character,  are  all  the 
subject  of  observation,  and  to  a  great  extent  of  imitation, 
by  the  young  in  his  district.  He  is  observed  not  only  in 
the  school,  but  in  the  family,  in  the  social  gathering,  and 
in  the  religious  meeting.  How  desirable  then  that  he 
should  be  a  model  in  all  things  ! 

Man  has  been  said  to  be  a  "bundle  of  habits";  and 
it  has  been  as  pithily  remarked  —  "Happy  is  the  man 
whose  habits  are  his  friends."  It  were  well  if  all  per- 
sons, before  they  become  teachers,  would  attend  care- 

67 


68  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

fully  to  the  formation  of  their  personal  habits.  This, 
unhappily,  is  not  always  done,  —  and  therefore  I  shall 
make  no  apology  for  introducing  in  this  place  some  very 
plain  remarks  on  what  I  deem  the  essentials  among  the 
habits  of  the  teacher. 

i .  Neatness.  —  This  implies  cleanliness  of  the  person. 
If  some  who  assume  to  teach  were  not  proverbial  for 
their  slovenliness,  I  would  not  dwell  on  this  point.  On 
this  point,  however,  I  must  be  allowed  great  plainness 
of  speech,  even  at  the  expense  of  incurring  the  charge 
of  excessive  nicety  ;  for  it  is  by  attending  to  a  few  little 
things  that  one  becomes  a  strictly  neat  person.  The 
morning  ablution,  then,  should  never  be  omitted,  and  the 
comb  for  the  hair  and  brush  for  the  clothes  should  always 
be  called  into  requisition  before  the  teacher  presents  him- 
self to  the  family,  or  to  his  school.  Every  teacher  would 
very  much  promote  his  own  health  by  washing  the 
whole  surface  of  the  body  every  morning  in  cold  water. 
This  is  now  done  by  very  many  of  the  most  enlightened 
teachers,  as  well  as  others.  When  physiology  is  better 
understood  this  practice  will  be  far  more  general.  To 
no  class  of  persons  is  it  more  essential  than  to  the 
teacher ;  for  on  account  of  his  confinement,  often  in  an 
unventilated  room,  with  half  a  hundred  children  during 
the  day,  very  much  more  is  demanded  of  the  exhalants 
in  him  than  in  others.  His  only  safety  is  in  a  healthy 
action  of  the  skin. 

The  teeth  should  be  attended  to.  A  brush  and  clean 
water  have  saved  many  a  set  of  teeth.  It  is  bad  enough 
to  witness  the  deplorable  neglect  of  these  important 
organs  so  prevalent  in  the  community;  but  it  is  ex- 
tremely mortifying  to  see  a  filthy  set  of  teeth  in  the 
mouth  of  the  teacher  of  our  youth.     The  nails,  too,  I 


PERSONAL  HABITS   OF  THE    TEACHER  69 

am  sorry  to  say,  are  often  neglected  by  some  of  our 
teachers,  till  their  ebony  tips  are  anything  but  orna- 
mental. This  matter  is  made  worse  when,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  family  or  of  the  school,  the  penknife  is 
brought  into  requisition  to  remove  that  which  should 
have  received  attention  at  the  time  of  washing  in  the 
morning.  The  teacher  should  remember  that  it  is  a 
vulgar  habit  to  pare  or  clean  the  nails  while  in  the 
presence  of  others,  and  especially  during  conversation 
with  them. 

The  teacher  should  be  neat  in  his  dress.  I  do  not 
urge  that  his  dress  should  be  expensive.  His  income 
ordinarily  will  not  admit  of  this.  He  may  wear  a  very 
plain  dress ;  nor  should  it  be  any  way  singular  in  its 
fashion.  All  I  ask  is  that  his  clothing  should  be  in 
good  taste,  and  always  clean.  A  slovenly  dress,  cov- 
ered with  dust,  or  spotted  with  grease,  is  never  so  much 
out  of  its  proper  place  as  when  it  clothes  the  teacher. 

While  upon  this  subject  I  may  be  indulged  in  a  word 
or  two  upon  the  use  of  tobacco  by  the  teacher.  It  is 
quite  a  puzzle  to  me  to  tell  why  any  man  but  a  Turk, 
who  may  lawfully  dream  away  half  his  existence  over 
the  fumes  of  this  filthy  narcotic,  should  ever  use  it. 
Even  if  there  were  nothing  wrong  in  the  use  of  unnat- 
ural stimulants  themselves,  the  filthiness  of  tobacco-is 
enough  to  condemn  it  among  teachers,  especially  in  the 
form  of  chewing.  It  is  certainly  worth  while  to  ask 
whether  there  is  not  some  moral  delinquency  in  teach- 
ing this  practice  to  the  young,  while  it  is  admitted  by 
nearly  all  who  have  fallen  into  the  habit  to*  be  an  evil, 
and  one  from  which  they  would  desire  to  be  delivered. 
At  any  rate,  I  hope  the  time  is  coming  when  the  good 
taste  of  teachers,  and  a  regard  for  personal  neatness 


70  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

and  the  comfort  of  others,*  shall  present  motives  suffi- 
ciently strong  to  induce  them  to  break  away  from  -  a 
practice  at  once  so  unreasonable  and  so  disgusting. 

2.  Order.  —  In  this  place  I  refer  to  that  system  and 
regularity  so  desirable  in  every  teacher.  He  should 
practice  it  in  his  room  at  his  boarding  house.  Every- 
thing should  have  its  place.  His  books,  his  clothing, 
should  all  be  arranged  with  regard  to  this  principle. 
The  same  habit  should  go  with  him  to  the  schoolroom. 
His  desk  there  should  be  a  pattern  of  orderly  arrange- 
ment. Practicing  this  himself,  he  may  with  propriety  in- 
sist upon  it  in  his  pupils.  It  is  of  great  moment  to  the 
teacher  that,  when  he  demands  order  and  arrangement 
among  his  pupils,  they  cannot  appeal  to  any  breach  of  it 
in  his  own  practice. 

3.  Courtesy. — The  teacher  should  ever  be  courteous, 
both  in  his  language  and  in  his  manners.  Courtesy  of 
language  may  imply  a  freedom  from  all  coarseness. 
There  is  a  kind  of  communication  used  among  boatmen 
and  hangers-on  at  barrooms  which  should  find  no  place 
in  the  teacher's  vocabulary.  All  vulgar  jesting,  all 
double-entendres,  all  low  allusions,  should  be  forever 
excluded  from  his  mouth.  And  profanity !  —  can  it  be 
necessary  that  I  should  speak  of  this  as  among  the 
habits  of  the  teacher  ?  Yes,  it  is  even  so.  Such  is  the 
want  of  moral  sense  in  the  community,  that  men  are 
still  employed  in  some  districts,  whose  ordinary  conver- 
sation is  poisoned  with  the  breath  of  blasphemy ;  aye,  and 
even  the  walls  of  the  schoolroom  resound  to  undisguised 
oaths  !  I  caVmot  find  words  to  express  my  astonishment 
at  the  indifference  of  parents,  or  at  the  recklessness  of 
teachers,  wherever  I  know  such  cases  to  exist. 

Speaking  of  the  language  of  the  teacher,  I  might 


PERSONAL   HABITS   OF  THE    TEACHER  J I 

urge  also  that  it  should  be  both  pure  and  accurate. 
Pure  as  distinguished  from  all  those  cant  phrases  and 
provincialisms  which  amuse  the  vulgar  in  certain  local- 
ities ;  and  accurate  as  to  the  terms  used  to  express  his 
meaning.  As  the  teacher  teaches  in  this,  as  in  every- 
thing, by  example  as  well  as  by  precept,  he  should  be 
very  careful  to  acquire  an  unexceptionable  use  of  our 
language,  and  never  deviate  from  it  in  the  hearing  of 
his  pupils  or  elsewhere. 

There  is  a  courtesy  of  manner  also,  which  should 
characterize  the  teacher.  This  is  not  that  ridiculous 
obsequiousness  which  some  persons  assume  when  they 
would  gain  the  good  opinion  of  others.  It  is  true  polite- 
ness. By  politeness  I  do  not  mean  any  particular  form 
of  words,  nor  any  prescribed  or  prescribable  mode  of 
action.  It  does  not  consist  in  bowing  according  to  any 
improved  plan,  nor  in  a  compliance  simply  with  the 
formulas  of  etiquette  in  the  fashionable  world.  True 
politeness  is  founded  in  benevolence.  Its  law  is  em- 
bodied in  the  golden  rule  of  the  Savior:  "Whatso- 
ever ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so 
unto  them."  ,  It  is  the  exercise  of  real  kindness.  It 
entertains  a  just  regard  for  the  feelings  of  others,  and 
seeks  to  do  for  them  what  would  make  them  really 
happy.  _^ 

The  teacher  should  possess  this  quality.  Whenever 
he  meets  a  child,  it  should  be  with  the  looks  and  words 
of  kindness.  Whenever  he  receives  any  token  of  regard 
from  a  pupil,  he  should  acknowledge  it  in  the  true  spirit 
of  politeness.  Whenever  he  meets  a  pupil  in  the  street, 
or  in  a  public  place,  he  should  cordially  recognize  him. 
In  this  way  and  a  thousand  others,  which,  if  he  have  the 
right  spirit,  will  cost  him  nothing,  he  will  cultivate  true 


72  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

courtesy  in  his  pupils.  He  can  do  it  in  this  way  more 
effectually  than  he  can  by  formally  lecturing  upon  the 
subject.  True  politeness  will  always  win  its  true  recip- 
rocation. Two  teachers  were  once  walking  together  in 
the  streets  of  a  large  town  in  New  England.  Several 
lads  whom  they  met  on  the  sidewalk  raised  their  caps 
as  they  exchanged  the  common  salutations  with  one  of 
the  teachers.  "  What  boys  are  these  that  pay  you  such 
attention  as  they  pass  ?"  inquired  the  other.  "They  are 
my  scholars,"  answered  his  friend.  "Your  scholars! 
Why,  how  do  you  teach  them  to  be  so  very  polite? 
Mine  are  pretty  sure  never  to  look  at  me;  and  generally 
they  take  care  to  be  on  the  other  side  of  the  street." 
"I  am  unable  to  tell,"  said  his  friend;  "  I  never  say  any- 
thing about  it.  I  usually  bow  to  them,  and  they  are 
as  ready  to  bow  to  me."  The  whole  secret  consisted 
in  this  teacher's  meeting  his  pupils  in  the  spirit  of 
kindness. 

I  would  not,  however,  discourage  a  teacher  from  actu- 
ally inculcating  good  manners  by  precept.  It  should 
indeed  be  done.  The  manners  of  pupils  are  too  much 
neglected  in  most  of  our  schools,  and,  I .  am  sorry  to 
say,  in  most  of  our  families.  Our  youth  are  growing 
up  with  all  the  independence  of  sturdy  young  republi- 
cans, —  and  in  their  pride  of  freedom  from  govern- 
mental restraint,  they  sometimes  show  a  want  of  respect 
for  their  seniors  and  superiors  which  is  quite  mortify- 
ing to  all  lovers  of  propriety.  It  is  the  teacher's  prov- 
ince to  counteract  this ;  and  in  order  to  do  it  well,  he 
should  possess  the  virtue  of  true  courtesy,  both  in 
theory  and  practice. 

4.  Punctuality.  —  This,  as  a  habit,  is  essential  to  the 
teacher.      He  should  be  punctual  in  everything.      He 


PERSONAL   HABITS    OF   THE    TEACHER  73 

should  always  be  present  at  or  before  the  time  for 
opening  the  school.  A  teacher  who  goes  late  to  school 
once  a  week,  or  even  once  a  month,  cannot  very  well 
enforce  the  punctual  attendance  of  his  pupils.  I  once 
knew  a  man  who  for  seven  long  years  was  never  late 
at  school  a  single  minute,  and  seldom  did  he  fail  to 
reach  his  place  more  than  five  minutes  before  the  time. 
I  never  knew  but  one  such.  I  have  known  scores  who 
were  frequently  tardy,  and  sometimes  by  the  space  of 
a  whole  hour ! 

A  teacher  should  be  as  punctual  in  dismissing  as  in 
opening  his  school.  I  know  that  some  make  a  virtue 
of  keeping  their  schools  beyond  the  regular  hours.  I 
have  always  considered  this  a  very  questionable  virtue. 
If  a  teacher  wishes  to  stay  beyond  his  time,  it  should  be 
either  with  delinquents,  who  have  some  lessons  to  make 
up,  or  with  those  who  voluntarily  remain.  But,  after 
all,  if  he  has  been  strictly  punctual  to  the  hours 
assigned  for  his  various  duties  in  school,  there  will 
scarcely  be  the  necessity  for  him  or  any  of  his  pupils 
to  remain  beyond  the  time  for  dismission ;  and,  as  a 
general  rule,  a  regard  both  for  his  own  health  and  theirs 
should  forbid  this.  It  is  better  to  work  diligently  while 
one  does  work,  and  not  to  protract  the  time  of  labor  so 
as  to  destroy  one's  energy  for  to-morrow. 

This  habit  of  punctuality  should  run  through  every- 
thing. He  should  be  punctual  at  all  engagements ;  he 
should  be  studiously  so  in  all  the  detail  of  school  exer- 
cises ;  he  should  be  so  at  his  meals,  at  his  private 
studies,  at  his  hour  of  retiring  at  night  and  of  rising  in 
the  morning,  and  also  at  his  exercise  and  recreation. 
This  is  necessary  to  a  truly  exemplary  character,  and 
it  is  equally  as  necessary  to  good  health. 


74  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF   TEACHING 

5.  Habits  of  Study.  —  Unless  the  teacher  takes  care 
to  furnish  his  own  mind,  he  will  soon  find  his  present 
stock  of  knowledge,  however  liberal  that  may  be,  fading 
from  his  memory  and  becoming  unavailable.  To  pre- 
vent this,  and  to  keep  along  with  every  improvement, 
he  should  regularly  pursue  a  course  of  study.  I  say 
regularly ;  for  in  order  to  accomplish  anything  really 
desirable,  he  must  do  something  every  day.  By  strict 
system  in  all  his  arrangements  he  may  find  time  to  do 
it ;  and  whenever  I  am  told  by  a  teacher  that  he  cannot 
find  time  to  study,  I  always  infer  that  there  is  a  want  of 
order  in  his  arrangements,  or  a  want  of  punctuality  in 
the  observance  of  that  order.  Human  life  indeed  is 
short;  but  most  men  still  further  abridge  the  period 
allotted  to  them,  by  a  disregard  of  system. 

What  has  now  been  said  upon  the  teacher's  spirit, 
the  teacher's  responsibility,  and  the  teacher's  personal 
habits,  will  embody  perhaps  my  views  upon  the  char- 
acter of  the  individual  who  may  be  encouraged  to  en- 
gage in  the  work  of  teaching.  Nor  do  I  think  the 
requirements  in  this  department  have  been  overstated. 
I  know,  indeed,  that  too  many  exercise  the  teacher's 
functions  without  the  teacher's  spirit  as  here  described, 
and  without  the  sense  of  responsibility  here  insisted  on, 
and  with  habits  entirely  inconsistent  with  those  here 
required.  But  this  does  not  prove  that  such  teachers 
have  chosen  the  right  calling,  or  that  the  children 
under  their  care  are  under  safe  and  proper  guidance. 
It  proves  rather  that  parents  and  school  officers  have 
too  often  neglected  to  be  vigilant,  or  that  suitable  teach- 
ers could  not  be  had. 

Let  none  think  of  lowering  the  standard  to  what  has 
been  or  what  may  even  now  be  that  of  a  majority  of 


PERSONAL  HABITS   OF  THE    TEACHER  75 

those  who  are  engaged  in  this  profession.  Every  young 
teacher's  eye  should  be  directed  to  the  very  best  model 
in  this  work ;  and  he  should  never  be  satisfied  with  bare 
mediocrity.  Excelsior,  the  motto  of  the  Empire  State, 
may  well  be  the  motto  of  the  young  teacher. 

REVIEW   QUIZ 

1 .  What  are  habits  ? 

2.  Why  are  the  teacher's  habits  so  important? 

3.  Instance  habits  essential  to  the  teacher. 

4.  What  habits  of  neatness  and  cleanliness  should  be  formed? 

5.  What  habits  of  system  and  order  should  he  have? 

6.  What  is  courtesy?     The  effect  of  courtesy  upon  pupils? 

7.  What  faults  of  language  is  the  teacher  warned  against? 

8.  Courtesy  of  manner  must  be  free  from  what  faults? 

9.  How  can  courtesy  be  learned  in  the  schoolroom? 

10.  What  need  is  there  for  lessons  in  manners  in  our  schoolrooms? 

1 1 .  What  habits  of  punctuality  does  the  teacher  need  to  have  ? 

12.  What  habits  of  study  should  he  form?     (See  also,  p.  30.7.) 

13.  What  is  the  penalty  for  neglecting  self-culture? 

HABITS   WORTH   CULTIVATING  BY   THE  TEACHER 

I.  Habits  of  Prudence:  that  is,  habits  which  concern  what  he 
owes  himself;  as,  self-care,  self-respect,  self-culture,  self- 
rule,  self-denial,  purity,  and  temperance. 
II.  Habits  of  Justice :  that  is,  habits  that  concern  what  he  owes 
to  others ;  as,  courtesy,  deference,  kindness,  forbearance, 
patience,  benevolence,  beneficence,  impartiality,  fairness, 
veracity,  sincerity,  and  honesty.  These  are  the  social  or 
cooperative  habits. 
: ;  I  Habits  of  Fortitude :  that  is,  habits  which  concern  his  power 
to  withstand  fittingly  whatever  threatens  harm  to  his  nature. 
His  power  to  bear  himself  becomingly  in  the  face  of  pros- 
perity and  adversity,  success  and  failure,  flattery  and  condem- 
nation, pain  and  grief,  obstacles  and  disappointment  ought  to 
settle  as  soon  as  possible  into  habit.  Very  essential  habits 
these  are. 


76  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

IV.  Habits  of  Order:  that  is,  habits  which  concern  the  fitting  dis- 
posal of  himself  and  his  own ;  as,  diligence,  industry,  accu- 
racy, neatness,  regularity,  punctuality,  system.  These  are 
the  industrial  habits. 


SIGNIFICANT  THOUGHTS  ABOUT   HABIT 

i .  Every  act  of  the  soul  leaves  as  an  enduring  result  an  increased 
power  and  tendency  to  act  again  in  a  like  manner,  and  every 
repetition  of  the  act  increases  this  power  and  this  tendency. 
When  this  tendency  becomes  so  strong  that  an  act  is  repeated 
without  conscious  voluntary  effort  the  result  is  called  Habit. 
—  White. 

2.  Repetition  is  the  mother  of  Habit. 

3.  Habits  are  a  necessity  of  nature.     We  are  creatures  of  habit, 

despite  our  wills. 

4.  We  have  truly  learned  only  what  has  become  habit. 

5.  Habit  steadies  and   strengthens  the  will,  or  weakens  and  en- 

slaves it. 

6.  Happy  is  the  man  whose  habits  are  his  friends. 

7.  Habit    is   a  tyrant   more   easily  avoided   than    conquered.  — 

Dr.  Johnson. 

8.  We  form  habits  easily  in  early  life ;  in  later  life  they  form  us 

easily. 

9.  The  diminutive  chains  of  habit  are  seldom  heavy  enough  to  be 

felt  until  they  are  too  strong  to  be  broken.  — Dr.  Johnson. 

10.  Habit  second   nature!     Habit   is   ten  times  nature! — Duke 

of  Wellington. 

11.  Good    habits    are    more    important    than    good    principles. — 

Robert  Hall. 

12.  Habits  have  more  force  in  forming  our  characters   than   our 

opinions  have. — Robert  Hall. 

13.  Sow  acts  and  you  reap  habits;  sow  habits  and  you  reap  char- 

acter ;  sow  character  and  you  reap  destiny. 

14.  Education  is  progressive  habituation  along  the  line  of  upward 

tendency.  —  Dr.  G.  S.  Hall. 

15.  The  great  problem  in  education  is  how  best  to  place  instincts 

and  passions  under  the  habitual  control  of  reason,  conscience, 
and  will.  — Spalding. 


PERSONAL   HABITS    OF   THE    TEACHER  J  J 

1 6.  The   teacher  suffers   more   from  unworthy   habits   than    from 

unworthy  scholarship. 

17.  God  has  been  good  enough  to  make  it  just  as  easy  to  form 

good  habits  as  bad  ones,  and  just  as  hard  to  break  them. — 
G.  G.  Bond. 

READINGS 

Radestock's  Habit  in  Education. 

Krohn's  Psychology,  Chap.  XVII. 

Todd's  Student's  Manual,  Chap.  II. 

Locke's  Conduct  of  the  Understanding,  Sec.  IV. 


CHAPTER  V 

LITERARY   QUALIFICATIONS  OF  THE   TEACHER 

"  How  shall  he  give  kindling,  in  whose  inward  man  there  is  no 
live  coal,  but  all  is  burnt-out  to  a  dead  grammatical  cinder  ? " 

—  Carlyle. 

I  am  now  about  to  enter  an  extensive  field.  Since 
the  teacher  is  to  be  the  life  of  the  school,  it  is  of  great 
consequence  that  he  have  within  him  the  means  of 
sustaining  life. 

As  the  statutes  in  many  of  the  states  prescribe  the 
minimum  of  attainment  for  the  teacher,  I  might  per- 
haps spare  myself  the  labor  of  writing  on  this  point. 
Yet  in  a  thorough  work  on  the  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Teaching,  this  very  properly  comes  under  consideration. 

The  profession  of  teaching  is  advancing.  The  pres- 
ent standard  of  acquirement  demanded  of  the  teacher 
excludes  many  who  were  considered  quite  respectable 
in  their  vocation  ten  years  ago.  This  may  well  be  so ; 
for  within  that  time  quite  an  advance  has  been  made  in 
the  compensation  offered  to  teachers.  It  is  but  reason- 
able that  acquirement  should  keep  pace  with  the  reward 
of  it.  Indeed,  the  talent  and  attainment  brought  into 
the  field  must  always  be  in  advance  of  the  rate  of  com- 
pensation. The  people  must  be  first  convinced  that 
teachers  are  better  than  they  were  years  ago,  and  then 
they  will  be  ready  to  reward  them.  In  Massachusetts, 
according  to  statistics  in  the  possession  of   the  Hon. 

78 


LITERARY  QUALIFICATIONS  79 

Horace  Mann,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
the  compensation  of  teachers  within  ten  years  has  ad- 
vanced thirty-three  per  cent;  nor  is  it  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  this  advance  has  been  made  independent 
of  any  improvement  among  the  teachers.  Their  system 
of  supervision  has  increased  in  strictness  during  this 
time  in  an  equal  ratio;  and  many  teachers  who  were 
entirely  incompetent  for  their  places  have  thus  been 
driven  to  other  employments.  The  cause  is  still  on- 
ward ;  and  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  people 
will  demand  still  more  thorough  teachers  for  the  com- 
mon schools,  and  they  will  find  it  for  their  interest  to 
pay  for  them. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  will  not  be  my  design 
to  give  the  very  lowest  qualifications  for  a  teacher  at 
present.  I  shall  aim  to  describe  those  which  a  teacher 
ought  to  possess,  in  order  to  command,  for  some  time  to 
come,  the  respect  of  the  enlightened  part  of  the  com- 
munity. I  will  not  say  that  a  man  with  less  attainment 
than  I  shall  describe  may  not  keep  a  good  school ;  I 
have  no  doubt  that  many  do.  Yet  if  our  profession  is 
to  be  really  respectable,  and  truly  deserving  of  the  re- 
gard of  an  enlightened  people,  we  must  have  a  still 
higher  standard  of  qualification  than  I  shall  now  insist 
on.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  studies  of  which 
every  teacher  should  have  a  competent  knowledge.  I 
add  also  to  each  such  word  of  comment  as  appears  to 
be  necessary. 

i.  Orthography. — This  implies  something  more 
than  mere  spelling.  Spelling  is  certainly  indispensable. 
No  person  should  ever  think  of  teaching,  who  is  not  an 
accurate  speller.  But  the  nature  and  powers  of  letters 
should  also  be  mastered.     We  have  in  our  language 


80  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

about  forty  elementary  sounds  ;  yet  we  have  but  twenty- 
six  characters  to  represent  them.  Our  alphabet  is  there- 
fore imperfect.  This  imperfection  is  augmented  by  the 
fact  that  several  of  the  letters  are  employed  each  to 
represent  several  different  sounds.  In  other  cases,  two 
letters  combined  represent  the  element.  There  are  also 
letters,  as  c,  q,  and  x,  which  have  no  sound  that  is  not 
fully  represented  by  other  letters.  Then  a  very  large 
number  of  our  letters  are  silent  in  certain  positions, 
while  they  are  fully  sounded  in  others.  It  were  much 
to  be  desired  that  we  might  have  a  perfect  alphabet, 
that  is,  as  many  characters  as  we  have  elementary 
sounds,  and  that  each  letter  should  have  but  one  sound. 
For  the  present  this  cannot  be;  and  the  present  gen- 
eration of  teachers,  at  least,  will  have  to  teach  our 
present  orthography.  Those  systems  of  orthography 
are  much  to  be  preferred  which  begin  with  the  ele- 
mentary sounds,  and  then  present  the  letters  as  their 
representatives,  together  with  the  practice  of  analyzing 
words  into  their  elements,  thus  showing  at  once  the 
silent  letters  and  the  equivalents.  These  systems  may 
be  taught  in  half  the  time  that  the  old  systems  can  be ; 
and  when  acquired  they  are  of  much  greater  practical 
utility  to  the  learner.  As  my  views  have  been  more 
fully  presented  in  the  "  Normal  Chart  of  Elementary 
Sounds,' '  prepared  for  the  use  of  schools,  I  will  only 
refer  the  reader  to  that  work. 

2.  Reading. —  Every  teacher  should  be  a  good  reader. 
Not  more  than  one  in  every  hundred  among  teachers 
can  now  be  called  a  good  reader.  To  be  able  to  read 
well,  implies  a  quick  perception  of  the  meaning  as  well 
as  a  proper  enunciation  of  the  words.  It  is  a  branch 
but  poorly  taught  in  most  of  our  schools.     Many  of  the 


LITERARY  QUALIFICATIONS  8 1 

older  pupils  get  above  reading  before  they  have  learned 
to  read  well ;  and,  unfortunately,  many  of  our  teachers 
cannot  awaken  an  interest  in  the  subject,  because  very 
likely  they  cannot  read  any  better  than  their  scholars. 
It  would  be  interesting  to  ascertain  how  large  a  pro- 
portion of  our  youth  leave  the  schools  without  acquiring 
the  power  readily  to  take  the  sense  of  any  common  para- 
graph which  they  may  attempt  to  read.  I  am  inclined 
to  think  the  number  is  not  small.1  In  this  way  I  ac- 
count for  the  fact  that  so  many  cease  to  read  as  soon 
as  they  leave  school.  It  costs  them  so  much  effort  to 
decipher  the  meaning  of  a  book,  that  it  counteracts  the 
desire  for  the  gratification  and  improvement  it  might 
otherwise  afford.  It  should  not  be  so.  The  teacher 
should  be  a  model  of  good  reading;  he  should  be  en- 

1  Since  writing  the  above,  my  eye  has  fallen  upon  the  following,  from 
the  second  Annual  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Mass.  Board  of  Educa- 
tion. "  I  have  devoted,"  says  Mr.  Mann,  "  especial  pains  to  learn,  with 
some  degree  of  numerical  accuracy,  how  far  the  reading  in  our  schools  is 
an  exercise  of  the  mind  in  thinking  and  feeling,  and  how  far  it  is  a  barren 
action  of  the  organs  of  speech  upon  the  atmosphere.  My  information  is 
derived  principally  from  the  written  statements  of  the  school  committees 
of  the  different  towns,  —  gentlemen  who  are  certainly  exempt  from  all 
temptation  to  disparage  the  schools  they  superintend.  The  result  is  that 
more  than  eleven  twelfths  of  all  the  children  in  the  reading  classes  in  our 
schools  do  not  understand  the  meaning  of  the  words  they  read;  that  they 
do  not  master  the  sense  of  their  reading  lessons ;  and  that  the  ideas^and 
feelings  intended  by  the  author  to  be  conveyed  to  and  excited  in  the 
reader's  mind,  still  rest  in  the  author's  intention,  never  having  yet  reached 
the  place  of  their  destination.  It  would  hardly  seem  that  the  combined 
efforts  of  all  persons  engaged  could  have  accomplished  more  in  defeating 
the  true  objects  of  reading.  How  the  cause  of  this  deficiency  is  to  be 
apportioned  among  the  legal  supervisors  of  the  schools,  parents,  teachers, 
and  authors  of  text-books,  it  is  impossible  to  say;  but  surely  it  is  an  evil, 
gratuitous,  widely  prevalent,  and  threatening  the  most  alarming  conse- 
quences." 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  6 


82  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

thusiastic  in  this  branch,  and  never  rest  till  he  has  ex- 
cited the  proper  interest  in  it  among  the  pupils,  from 
the  oldest  to  the  youngest,  in  the  school. 

It  would  be  well  if  our  teachers  could  be  somewhat 
acquainted  with  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  as  this 
would  afford  them  great  facilities  in  comprehending 
and  defining  many  of  our  own  words.  As  this  cannot 
be  expected  for  the  present,  a  substitute  may  be  sought 
in  some  analysis  of  our  derivative  words.  Several 
works  have  somewhat  recently  been  prepared,  to  sup- 
ply, as  far  as  may  be,  the  wants  of  those  who  have  not 
studied  the  classics.  I  should  advise  every  teacher,  for 
his  own  benefit,  to  master  some  one  of  these. 

3.  Writing.  —  It  is  not  respectable  for  the  teacher 
of  the  young  to  be  a  bad  writer ;  nor  can  it  ever  become 
so,  even  should  the  majority  of  bad  writers  continue 
to  increase.  The  teacher  should  take  great  pains  to 
write  a  plain,  legible  hand.  This  is  an  essential  quali- 
fication. 

4.  Geography.  —  A  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
geography  is  essential.  This  implies  an  acquaintance 
with  the  use  of  globes,  and  the  art  of  map  drawing. 
The  teacher  should  be  so  well  versed  in  geography  that 
with  an  outline  map  of  any  country  before  him,  he 
could  give  an  intelligent  account  of  its  surface,  people, 
resources,  history,  etc.  ;  and  if  the  outline  map  were  not 
at  hand,  he  ought  to  be  able  to  draw  one  from  memory, 
—  at  least,  of  each  of  the  grand  divisions  of  the  earth, 
and  of  the  United  States. 

5.  History.  —  The  teacher  should  be  acquainted  with 
history,  —  at  least,  the  history  of  the  United  States. 
He  can  hardly  teach  geography  successfully  without  a 
competent  knowledge  of  both  ancient  and  modern  his- 


LITERARY   QUALIFICATIONS  83 

tory.  It  should,  in  the  main,  be  taught  in  our  common 
schools  in  connection  with  geography. 

6.  Mental  Arithmetic.  —  Let  every  teacher  be 
thoroughly  versed  in  some  good  work  on  this  subject. 
Colburn's  was  the  first,  and  it  is  probably  the  best  that 
has  been  prepared.  That  little  book  has  done  more 
than  any  other  for  the  improvement  of  teaching  in  this 
country.  It  is  not  enough  that  the  teacher  is  able  in 
some  way  to  obtain  the  answers  to  the  questions  proposed. 
He  should  be  able  to  give  the  reason  for  every  step  in 
the  process  he  takes  to  obtain  them,  and  to  do  it  in  a 
clear  and  concise  manner.  It  is  this  which  constitutes 
the  value  of  this  branch  as  a  discipline  for  the  mind. 

I  may  never  forget  my  first  introduction  to  this  work. 
On  entering  an  academy  as  a  student,  in  1827,  after  I 
had  "ciphered  through "  some  four  or  five  arithmetics 
on  the  old  plan,  my  teacher  asked  me  if  I  had  ever 
studied  Mental  Arithmetic,  extending  to  me  the  little 
book  above  named.  "  No,  sir."  "  Perhaps  you  would 
like  to  do  so."  I  opened  to  the  first  page,  and  saw  this 
question  :  "  How  many  thumbs  have  you  on  your  right 
hand  ? "  This  was  enough ;  the  color  came  into  my 
face  and  I  pettishly  replied,  "  I  think  I  can  find  out  the 
number  of  my  thumbs  without  studying  a  book  for  it." 
"  But,"  said  the  teacher,  "  many  of  our  young  men  hays 
studied  it  and  they  think  they  have  been  profited.  If 
you  will  take  it,  and  turn  over  till  you  find  a  little  exer- 
cise for  your  mind,  I  think  you  will  like  it."  His  man- 
ner was  open  and  sincere,  and  I  took  the  little  book. 
In  three  weeks  I  had  mastered  it ;  and  I  had  gained,  in 
that  time,  more  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  arith- 
metic than  I  had  ever  acquired  in  all  my  life  before.  I 
no  longer  "saw  through  a  glass  darkly." 


84  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

7.  Written  Arithmetic.  —  This  everybody  demands 
of  the  teacher;  and  he  is  scarcely  in  danger  of  being 
without  fair  pretensions  in  this  branch.  He  should, 
however,  know  it  by  its  principles,  rather  than  by  its 
rules  and  facts.  He  should  so  understand  it,  that  if 
every  arithmetic  in  the  world  should  be  burned,  he 
could  still  make  another,  constructing  its  rules  and 
explaining  their  principles.  He  should  understand 
arithmetic  so  well  that  he  could  teach  it  thoroughly 
though  all  text-books  should  be  excluded  from  his 
schoolroom.  This  is  not  demanding  too  much.  Arith- 
metic is  a  certain  science,  and  used  every  day  of  one's 
life,  —  the  teacher  should  be  an  entire  master  of  it. 

8.  English  Grammar.  —  It  is  rare  that  a  teacher  is 
found  without  some  pretensions  to  English  grammar; 
yet  it  is  deplorable  to  observe  how  very  few  have  any 
liberal  or  philosophical  acquaintance  with  it.  In  many 
cases  it  is  little  else  than  a  system  of  barren  technicali- 
ties. The  teacher  studies  one  book,  and  too  often  takes 
that  as  his  creed.  In  no  science  is  it  more  necessary  to 
be  acquainted  with  several  authors.  The  person  who 
has  studied  but  one  text-book  on  grammar,  even  if  that 
be  the  best  one  extant,  is  but  poorly  qualified  to  teach 
this  branch.  There  is  a  philosophy  of  language  which 
the  teacher  should  carefully  study;  and  if  within  his 
power  he  should  have  some  acquaintance  with  the 
peculiar  structure  of  other  languages  besides  his  own. 
It  can  hardly  be  expected  that  the  common  teacher 
should  acquire  an  accurate  knowledge  of  other  Ian-' 
guages  by  actually  studying  them.  As  a  substitute  for 
this,  I  would  recommend  that  the  teacher  should  very 
carefully  read  the  little  work  of  De  Sacy  on  General 
Grammar;   also  the  article  " Grammar"  in   the   Edin- 


LITERARY  QUALIFICATIONS  85 

burgh  and  other  encyclopedias.  In  this  science  the  mind 
naturally  runs  to  bigotry  ;  and  there  is  no  science  where 
the*  learner  is  apt  to  be  so  conceited  upon  small  acquire- 
ments as  in  grammar.  Let  the  teacher  spare  no  pains 
to  master  this  subject. 

9.  Algebra.  —  This  branch  is  not  yet  required  to  be 
taught  in  all  our  schools ;  yet  the  teacher  should  have  a 
thorough  acquaintance  with  it.  Even  if  he  is  never 
called  upon  to  teach  it  (and  it  never  should  be  intro- 
duced into  our  common  schools  till  very  thorough 
attainments  are  more  common  in  the  other  branches), 
still  it  so  much  improves  the  mind  of  the  teacher  that 
he  should  not  be  without  a  knowledge  of  it.  He  will 
teach  simple  arithmetic  much  better  for  knowing  alge- 
bra. I  consider  an  acquaintance  with  it  indispensable 
to  the  thorough  teacher,  even  of  the  common  school. 

10.  Geometry.  —  The  same  may  be  said  of  this 
branch  that  has  been  said  of  algebra.  Probably  nothing 
disciplines  the  mind  more  effectually  than  the  study  of 
geometry.  The  teacher  should  pursue  it  for  this 
reason.  He  will  teach  other  things  the  better  for  hav- 
ing had  this  discipline,  to  say  nothing  of  the  advantage 
which  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  geometry  will 
give  him  in  understanding  and  explaining  the  branches 
of  mathematics.  _^ 

1 1 .  Plane  Trigonometry  and  Surveying.  —  In 
many  of  our  schools  these  branches  are  required  to  be 
taught.  They  are  important  branches  in  themselves, 
and  they  also  afford  good  exercise  for  the  mind  in  their 
acquisition.  The  young  teacher,  especially  the  male 
teacher,  should  make  the  acquirement. 

12.  Natural  Philosophy. — This  branch  is  not 
taught  in  most  of  our  district  schools.      The  teacher, 


86  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

however,  should  understand  it  better  than  it  is  presented 
in  many  of  the  simple  text-books  on  this  subject.  He 
should  have  studied  the  philosophy  of  its  principles,  and 
be  fully  acquainted  with  their  demonstration.  If  possible 
he  should  have  had  an  opportunity  also  of  seeing  the 
principles  illustrated  by  experiment.  This  is  a  great 
field;  let  not  the  teacher  be  satisfied  with  cropping  a 
little  of  the  herbage  about  its  borders. 

13.  Chemistry.  —  As  a  matter  of  intelligence  the 
teacher  should  have  acquaintance  with  this  branch.  It 
is  comparatively  a  new  science,  but  it  is  almost  a  science 
of  miracles.  It  is  beginning  to  be  taught  in  our  com- 
mon schools ;  and  that  department  of  it  which  relates 
to  agriculture  is  destined  to  be  of  vast  importance  tQ 
the  agricultural  interests  of  our  country.  "  Instead  of 
conjecture,  and  hazard,  and  doubt,  and  experiment,  as 
heretofore,  a  knowledge  of  the  composition  of  soils,  the 
food  of  plants,  and  the  processes  of  nature  in  the  cul- 
ture and  growth  of  crops,  would  elevate  agriculture  to 
a  conspicuous  rank  among  the  exact  sciences.,,  1  The 
teacher  should  not  be  behind  the  age  in  this  depart- 
ment. 

14.  Human  Physiology.  —  The  teacher  should  well 
understand  this  subject.  There  is  an  unpardonable 
ignorance  in  the  community  as  to  the  structure  of  the 
human  body,  and  the  laws  of  health,  the  observance  of 
which  is,  in  general,  a  condition  of  longevity,  not  to  say 
of  exemption  from  disease.  By  reference  to  statistics 
it  has  been  ascertained  that  almost  a  fourth  part  of  all 
the  children  that  are  born  die  before  they  are  one  year 
old.  More  than  one  third  die  before  they  are  five  years 
of  age ;  and  before  the  age  of  eight  more  than  one  half 

1  Colonel  Young. 


LITERARY  QUALIFICATIONS  87 

of  all  that  are  born  return  again  to  the  earth !  Of  those 
who  survive,  how  many  suffer  the  miseries  of  lingering 
disease,  almost  sighing  for  death  to  deliver  them  from 
the  pangs  of  life  !  There  is  something  deplorably  wrong 
in  our  philosophy  of  living,  else  the  condition  of  man 
would  not  so  commonly  appear  an  exception  to  the  truth 
that  God  does  all  things  well.1  Dr.  Woodward,  late  of 
the  Massachusetts  State  Lunatic  Hospital,  says  :  "  From 
the  cradle  to  the  grave,  we  suffer  punishment  for  the 
violation  of  the  laws  of  health  and  life.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  half  the  evils  of  life  and  half  the  deaths  that  occur 
among  mankind  arise  from  ignorance  of  these  natural 
laws ;  and  that  a  thorough  knowledge  of  them  would 
diminish  the  sufferings  incident  to  our  present  state  of 
being  in  very  nearly  the  same  proportion."  I  know  not 
how  an  acquaintance  with  these  laws  can  be  in  any  way 
so  readily  extended  as  through  the  agency  of  our 
teachers  of  the  young.  At  any  rate,  the  teacher  him- 
self should  understand  them,  both  for  his  own  profit 
and  the  means  thus  afforded  him  of  being  directly  useful 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  to  others.  I  have  already 
shown  that  he  is  responsible  to  a  great  extent  for  the 
bodily  health  of  his  pupils.  A  thorough  knowledge  of 
physiology  will  enable  him  to  meet  this  responsibility. 

1  "  It  is  the  vast  field  of  ignorance  pertaining  to  these  subjects  in  which 
quackery  thrives  and  fattens.  No  one  who  knows  anything  of  the  organs 
and  functions  of  the  human  system,  and  of  the  properties  of  those  objects 
in  nature  to  which  that  system  is  related,  can  hear  a  quack  descant  upon 
the  miraculous  virtues  of  his  nostrums,  or  can  read  his  advertisements 
in  the  newspapers,  —  wherein,  fraudulently  toward  man  and  impiously 
toward  God,  he  promises  to  sell  an  *  Elixir  of  Life,'  or  'The  Balm  of 
Immortality,'  or  •  Resurrection  Pills,'  —  without  contempt  for  his  igno- 
rance or  detestation  of  his  guilt.  Could  the  quack  administer  his  nos- 
trums to  the  great  enemy,  Death,  then  indeed  we  might  expect  to  live 
forever  !  "  —  Horace  Mann. 


88  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

15.  Intellectual  Philosophy. — This  is  necessary 
for  the  teacher.  His  business  is  with  the  mind.  He, 
of  all  men,  should  know  something  of  its  laws  and  its 
nature.  He  can  know  something,  indeed,  by  observa- 
tion and  introspection ;  but  he  should  also  learn  by 
careful  study.  His  own  improvement  demands  it,  and 
his  usefulness  depends  upon  it. 

16.  Moral  Philosophy.  —  A  knowledge  of  this  may 
be  insisted  on  for  the  same  reasons  which  apply  to  intel- 
lectual philosophy.  It  is  so  important  that  the  moral 
nature  of  the  child  be  rightly  dealt  with,  that  he  is  a 
presumptuous  man  who  attempts  the  work  without  the 
most  careful  attention  to  this  subject. 

1 7.  Rhetoric  and  Logic  —  These  are  of  great  service 
to  the  teacher  personally,  as  means  of  mental  discipline 
and  the  cultivation  of  his  own  taste.  Even  if  ■  he  is 
never  to  teach  them,  they  will  afford  him  much  assist- 
ance in  other  departments  of  instruction.  He  certainly 
should  have  the  advantage  of  them. 

18.  Bookkeeping.  —  Every  teacher  should  know 
something  of  bookkeeping,  at  least  by  single  entry  ;  and 
also  be  conversant  with  the  ordinary  forms  of  business. 
The  profound  ignorance  on  this  subject  among  teachers 
is  truly  astonishing.1  Bookkeeping  should  be  a  common- 
school  study.  In  looking  over  the  able  Report  of  the 
Superintendent  of   Common  Schools  in  New  York,   I 

1  A  teacher,  who  had  kept  a  private  school,  was  met  in  a  country  store 
one  day  by  one  of  his  patrons,  who  paid  him  for  the  tuition  of  his  child, 
asking  at  the  same  time  for  a  receipt.  The  teacher  stared  vacantly  at  his 
patron.  "  Just  give  me  a  bit  of  paper,"  said  the  patron,  "  to  show  you've 
got  the  money."  "Oh,  yes,  sir,"  said  the  teacher;  and  taking  a  pen  and 
paper,  wrote  the  following :  — 

'  I  have  got  the  money 

"J D ." 


LITERARY   QUALIFICATIONS  89 

notice  in  fifty-three  counties,  during  the  winter  of 
1845-6,  that  among  225,540  pupils  in  the  common 
schools  only  922  studied  bookkeeping !  That  is  a 
study  which  in  practical  life  comes  home  to  the  interest 
not  only  of  every  merchant,  but  of  every  farmer,  every 
mechanic,  in  short,  every  business  man,  but  it  is  almost 
entirely  neglected  in  the  schools,  —  while  it  is  yet  true 
that  our  courts  of  justice  display  evidences  of  the  most 
deplorable  ignorance  in  this  important  art.  Some  still 
keep  their  accounts  on  bits  of  paper ;  others  use  books, 
but  without  any  system,  order,  or  intelligibility;  and 
others  still  mark  their  scores  in  chalk  or  charcoal  upon 
the  panel  of  the  cellar  door. 

The  teacher  should  qualify  himself  not  only  to  under- 
stand this  subject,  but  to  teach  it  in  such  a  way  that 
it  can  be  easily  comprehended  by  the  classes  in  our 
common  schools. 

19.  Science  of  Government.  —  The  teacher  should 
at  least  be  well  acquainted  with  the  history  and  genius 
of  our  own  government,  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  of  his  own  state.  In  a  republican  govern- 
ment, it  is  of  great  importance  that  the  young,  who  are 
to  take  an  active  part  in  public  measures  as  soon  as 
they  arrive  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  should  before  that 
time  be  made  acquainted  with  some  of  their  duties  and 
relations  as  citizens.  This  subject  has  been  introduced 
successfully  into  many  of  our  common  schools ;  but 
whether  it  is  to  be  matter  of  formal  teaching  or  not,  it 
is  a  disgrace  !  to  a  teacher  and  to  his  profession  to  be 
ignorant  of  the  provisions  of  the  constitution  for  the 
mode  of  choosing  our  rulers. 

1  Not  long  since  a  teacher  of  a  public  school  afforded  lasting  amusement 
for  the  hangers-on  at  a  country  grocery.     He  was  jeered  for  belonging  to 


90  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

20.  Drawing.  —  The  good  teacher  should  understand 
the  principles  of  drawing.  He  should  also  be  able  to 
practice  this  art.  It  is  of  great  consequence  to  him. 
Without  neglect  of  other  things  children  can  be  very 
profitably  taught  this  art  in  the  common  schools.  In 
the  absence  of  apparatus,  it  is  the  teacher's  only  way 
of  addressing  the  eye  of  his  pupils  in  illustrating  his 
teaching.  Every  teacher  should  take  pains,  not  only 
to  draw,  but  to  draw  well. 

21.  Vocal  Music.  —  It  is  not  absolutely  essential, 
though  very  desirable,  to  the  good  teacher,  that  he 
should  understand  music,  theoretically  and  practically. 
Music  is  becoming  an  exercise  in  our  best  schools ;  and 
wherever  introduced  and  judiciously  conducted  it  has 
been  attended  with  pleasing  results.  It  promotes  good 
reading  and  speaking  by  disciplining  the  ear  to  dis- 
tinguish sounds ;  and  it  also  facilitates  the  cultivation 
of  the  finer  feelings  of  our  nature.  It  aids  very  much 
in  the  government  of  the  school,  as  its  exercise  gives 
vent  to  that  restlessness  which  otherwise  would  find  an 
escapement  in  boisterous  noise  and  whispering,  —  and 
thus  it  often  proves  a  safety  valve,  through  which  a 
love  of  vociferation  and  activity  may  pass  off  in  a  more 
harmless  and  a  more  pleasing  way.  "  The  schoolmaster 
that  cannot  sing,"  says  Martin  Luther,  "  I  would  not 
look  upon."  Perhaps  this  language  is  too  strong;  but 
it  is  usually  more  pleasant  to  look  upon  a  school  where 
the  schoolmaster  can  sing. 


the  Whig  party  by  which  Mr.  Tyler  was  brought  into  power.  "  No,  no," 
said  he,  "  I  voted  for  General  Harrison,  but  /  never  voted  for  John  Tyler" 
"How  did  you  do  that?"  inquired  a  by-stander.  "  Why,  I  cut  Tyler's 
name  off  of  the  ticket,  to  be  sure  !  " 


LITERARY  QUALIFICATIONS  9 1 

I  have  thus  gone  through  with  a  list  of  studies 
which,  it  seems  to  me,  every  one  who  means  to  be  a 
good  teacher,  even  of  a  common  school,  should  make 
himself  acquainted  with.  I  would  not  condemn  a 
teacher  who,  having  other  good  qualities,  and  a  thor- 
ough scholarship  as  far  as  he  had  gone,  might  lack 
several  of  the  branches  above  named.  There  have 
been  many  good  teachers  without  all  this  attainment; 
but  how  much  better  they  might  have  been  with  it ! 

I  have  made  this  course  of  study  as  limited  as  I 
possibly  could,  taking  into  view  the  present  condition 
and  wants  of  our  schools.  No  doubt  even  more  will 
be  demanded  in  a  few  years.  I  would  have  the  present 
race  of  teachers  so  good  that  they  shall  be  looked  upon 
by  those  who  succeed  them  as  their  "  worthy  and  effi- 
cient predecessors'" 

I  ought  in  this  place  to  add  that  the  teacher  in- 
creases his  influence,  and  consequently  his  usefulness, 
in  proportion  as  he  makes  himself  conversant  with 
general  knowledge.  This  is  too  much  neglected.  The 
teacher,  by  the  fatigue  of  his  employment  and  the  cir- 
cumstances of  his  life,  is  strongly  tempted  to  content 
himself  with  what  he  already  knows,  or  at  best  to  con- 
fine himself  to  the  study  of  those  branches  which  he 
is  called  upon  to  teach.  He  should  stoutly  resist -this 
temptation.  He  should  always  have  some  course  of 
study  marked  out  which  he  will  systematically  pur- 
sue. He  should,  as  soon  as  possible,  make  himself 
acquainted  generally  with  the  subject  of  astronomy, 
the  principles  of  geology,  in  short,  the  various  branches 
of  natural  history.  He  will  find  one  field  after  another 
open  before  him,  and  if  he  will  but  have  the  persever- 
ance to  press  forward,  even  in  the  laborious  occupa- 


92  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

tion  of  teaching,  he  may  make  himself  a  well-informed 
man. 

I  will  venture  one  other  suggestion.  I  have  found 
it  a  most  profitable  thing  in  the  promotion  of  my  own 
improvement,  to  take  up  annually,  or  oftener,  some 
particular  subject  to  be  pursued  with  reference  to  writ- 
ing an  extended  lecture  upon  it.  This  gives  point  to 
the  course  of  reading,  and  keeps  the  interest  fixed. 
When  the  thorough  investigation  has  been  made,  let 
the  lecture  be  written  from  memory,  embodying  all 
the  prominent  points,  and  presenting  them  in  the  most 
striking  and  systematic  matter.  It  should  be  done,  too, 
with  reference  to  accuracy  and  even  elegance  of  style, 
so  that  the  composition  may  be  yearly  improved.  In 
this  way  certain  subjects  are  forever  fixed  in  the  mind. 
One  who  carefully  reads  for  a  definite  object,  and 
afterwards  writes  the  results  from  memory,  never  loses 
his  hold  upon  the  facts  thus  appropriated. 

TOPICAL  OUTLINE 

I .    The  profession  of  teaching  is  advancing. 

1.  Indications  of  it. 

2.  Warning  to  teachers. 

II.    Qualifications  necessary  to  command  respect. 
i .    Orthography. 

a.  What  the  teacher  must  be. 

b.  What  he  ought  to  know. 

(i)  The  nature  and  power  of  letters. 

(2)  The  imperfections  of  our  alphabet. 

(3)  The  analysis  of  words  into  elements. 

(4)  The  analysis  of  derivatives. 
2.   Reading. 

a.  What  a  teacher  must  be. 

b.  Two  essentials  of  good  reading. 

c.  Mr.  Mann's  complaint. 

d.  The  help  afforded  by  Latin  and  Greek.. 


LITERARY  QUALIFICATIONS  93 

3.  Writing. 

a.    What  every  teacher  must  be  able  to  do. 

4.  Geography. 

a.  What  a  teacher  must  know. 

b.  What  this  implies. 

c.  Ancient  and  modern  history  helpful.     How? 

5.  History. 

a.  Thorough  knowledge  of  United  States  history,  at 

least. 

b.  Ancient  and  modern  history  essential  here  also. 

c.  How  studied  and  taught? 

6.  Mental  Arithmetic. 

a.  Colburn's  Mental  Arithmetic  recommended. 

b.  How  the  subject  must  be  known. 

c.  Page,  a  seventeen  year  old  schoolboy  mastered  the 

book  in  three  weeks. 

d.  The  peculiar  value  of  mental  arithmetic. 

7.  Algebra,  Geometry,  and  Trigonometry. 

a.   The  value  of  each  to  the  teacher. 

8.  Natural  Philosophy  (Physics). 

a.  What  the  subject  treats  of.     Illustrate. 

b.  Its  value  to  the  teacher. 

9.  Chemistry. 

a.  What  the  subject  treats  of.     Illustrate. 

b.  Its  value.     Its  practical  value. 

10.  Physiology. 

a.  What  the  subject  treats  of. 

b.  Its  uses.     List  these  at  length. 

1 1 .  Intellectual  and  Moral  Philosophy. 

a.  What  do  the  terms  mean?  _^ 

b.  The   teacher's   professional  usefulness   dependent 

upon  knowledge  of  these.     How? 

c.  How  these  subjects  are  to  be  studied. 

12.  Logic,  Rhetoric,  and  Literature. 

a.  What  does  each  of  these  treat  of? 

b.  Value  of  each  to  the  teacher? 

13.  Bookkeeping. 

a.    The  practical  need  of  this  knowledge. 

14.  Science  of  Government  (Civics). 

a.   What  does  the  subject  treat  of  ? 


94  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

b.  What  the  teacher  must  know,  at  the  least. 

c.  Its  value  as  a  school  subject. 

15.  Drawing. 

a.  Its  values  for  the  teacher. 

b.  For  the  pupil. 

16.  Music. 

a.   Values  of  music  in  the  schoolroom. 
III.   Self -culture.     (See  also  Sec.  II.,  p.  303.) 

1.  How  is  the  teacher  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  these 

subjects  ? 

2.  Hindrances?     How  overcome  them? 

3.  How  Page  himself  overcame  them. 

4.  Reading  and  thinking  on  special  subjects. 

5.  Page's  habit.     Its  value? 

QUOTATIONS 

i.    More  teachers  are  failing  in  this  country  to-day  from  lack  of 
scholarship  than  from  any  other  one  cause. 

2.  One  of  the  great  teaching  forces   is   intellectual   mastery  and 

leadership. 

3.  Much  as  I  value  the  knowledge  of  the  principles  which  underlie 

the  art  of  teaching,  I  set  a  far  higher  value  on  the  thorough 
mastery  of  the  subjects  taught.  I  would  much  rather  have 
my  child  instructed  by  a  teacher  who  had  mastered  the 
subject  taught,  and  who  trusted  to  his  familiarity  with  it  in 
all  its  parts  for  suggestions  as  to  the  best  method  of  present- 
ing it,  than  by  one  who,  with  an  inferior  equipment  of  knowl- 
edge, made  it  an  invariable  rule  of  practice  to  proceed  from 
the  concrete  to  the  abstract,  from  the  known  to  the  unknown 
in  his  teaching.  And  so  I  say  that  the  first  duty  of  the 
teacher,  and  the  one  which  demands  special  emphasis  at  this 
time,  is  the  duty  of  scholarship. 
—  John  Tetlow,  Morgan's  "Educational  Mosaics,"  p.  245. 


CHAPTER   VI 

RIGHT  VIEWS   OF   EDUCATION 

"  Education  does  not  mean  teaching  people  to  know  what  they 
do  not  know.  It  means  teaching  them  to  behave  as  they  do  not 
behave.  It  is  not  teaching  the  youth  the  shapes  of  letters  and  the 
tricks  of  numbers,  and  then  leaving  them  to  turn  their  literature 
into  lust  and  their  arithmetic  into  roguery."  —  Ruskin. 

Every  teacher,  before  he  begins  the  work  of  instruc- 
tion, should  have  some  definite  idea  of  what  constitutes 
an  education;  otherwise  he  may  work  to  very  little 
purpose.  The  painter  who  would  execute  a  beautiful 
picture  must  have  beforehand  a  true  and  clear  concep- 
tion of  beauty  in  his  own  mind.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  the  sculptor.  That  rude  block  of  marble,  unsightly 
to  the  eyes  of  other  men,  contains  the  godlike  form, 
the  symmetrical  proportion,  the  lifelike  attitude  of  the 
finished  and  polished  statue ;  and  the  whole  is  as  clear 
to  his  mental  eye  before  the  chisel  is  applied  as  it  is  to 
his  bodily  vision  when  the  work  is  completed.  With 
this  perfect  ideal  in  the  mind  at  the  outset,  every  stroke 
of  the  chisel  has  its  object.  Not  a  blow  is  struck,  but 
it  is  guided  by  consummate  skill;  not  a  chip  is  removed, 
but  to  develop  the  ideal  of  the  artist.  And  when  the 
late  unsightly  marble,  as  if  by  miraculous  power,  stands 
out  before  the  astonished  spectator  in  all  the  perfection 
of  beauty,  —  when  it  almost  breathes  and  speaks,  —  it 
is  to  the  artist  but  the  realization  of  his  own  conception. 

Now  let  the  same  astonished  and  delighted  spectator, 

95 


96  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

with  the  same  instruments,  attempt  to  produce  another 
statue  from  a  similar  block.  On  this  side  he  scores  too 
deep ;  on  the  other  he  leaves  a  protuberance ;  here  by 
carelessness  he  encroaches  upon  the  rounded  limb; 
there  by  accident  he  hews  a  chip  from  off  the  nose ;  by 
want  of  skill  one  eye  ill-mates  the  other;  one  hand  is 
distorted  as  if  racked  by  pangs  of  the  gout;  the  other 
is  paralyzed  and  deathlike.  Such  would  be  his  signal 
failure.  Thus  he  might  fail  a  thousand  times.  Indeed 
it  would  be  matter  of  strange  surprise  if  in  a  thousand 
efforts  he  should  once  succeed. 

Now  the  difference  between  the  artist  and  the  spec- 
tator lies  chiefly  in  this,  —  the  one  knows  beforehand 
what  he  means  to  do;  the  other  works  without  any 
plan.  The  one  has  studied  beauty  till  he  can  see  it  in 
the  rugged  block;  the  other  only  knows  it  when  it  is 
presented  to  him.  The  former,  having  an  ideal,  pro- 
duces it  with  unerring  skill ;  the  latter,  having  no  con- 
ception to  guide  him,  brings  out  deformity. 

"What  sculpture  is  to  the  block  of  marble/'  says 
Addison,  "education  is  to  the  human  soul;  "  and  may  I 
not  add  that  the  sculptor  is  a  type  of  the  true  educator, 
—  while  the  spectator,  of  whom  I  have  been  speak- 
ing, may  aptly  represent  too  many  false  teachers  who 
without  study  or  forethought  enter  upon  the  delicate 
business  of  fashioning  the  human  soul,  blindly  experi- 
menting amidst  the  wreck  of  their  heaven-descended 
material,  maiming  and  marring,  with  scarcely  the  pos- 
sibility of  final  success,  —  almost  with  the  certainty  of 
a  melancholy  failure  ! 

In  other  things  besides  education  men  are  wiser. 
They  follow  more  the  teachings  of  nature  and  of  com- 
mon sense.     But  in  education,  where  a  child  has  but 


f  OF  TMI 

(  TJNIVERS1 
RIGHT    VIEWS  OF  EDUCATION      VOt    97 

one  opportunity  for  mental  training,  as  he  can  be  a 
child  but  once,  —  where  success,  unerring  success,  is 
everything  to  him  for  time  and  eternity,  and  where  a 
mistake  may  be  most  ruinous  to  him,  —  in  education 
men  often  forget  their  ordinary  wisdom  and  providence 
and  commit  the  most  important  concerns  to  the  most 
incompetent  hands.  "The  prevailing  opinions,''  says 
George  B.  Emerson,  "  in  regard  to  this  art  are  such  as 
the  common  sense  of  mankind  and  the  experience  of 
centuries  have  shown  to  be  absurd  as  to  every  other  art 
and  pursuit  of  civilized  life.  To  be  qualified  to  dis- 
course upon  our  moral  and  religious  duties,  a  man 
must  be  educated  by  years  of  study;  to  be  able  to 
administer  to  the  body  in  disease,  he  must  be  educated 
by  a  careful  examination  of  the  body  in  health  and  in 
disease,  and  of  the  effects  produced  on  it  by  external 
agents ;  to  be  able  to  make  out  a  conveyance  of  prop- 
erty, or  to  draw  a  writ,  he  must  be  educated;  to  navi- 
gate a  ship  he  must  be  educated  by  years  of  service 
before  the  mast  or  on  the  quarterdeck ;  to  transfer  the 
products  of  the  earth  or  of  art  from  the  producer  to 
the  consumer,  he  must  be  educated;  to  make  a  hat  or 
a  coat  he  must  be  educated  by  years  of  apprenticeship ; 
to  make  a  plow  he  must  be  educated ;  to  make  a  nail, 
or  a  shoe  for  a  horse  or  an  ox,  he  must  be  educated:  — 
but  to  prepare  a  man  to  do  all  these  things ;  —  to  train 
the  body  in  its  most  tender  years,  according  to  the  laws 
of  health,  so  that  it  should  be  strong  to  resist  disease ; 
to  fill  the  mind  with  useful  knowledge,  to  educate  it  to 
comprehend  all  the  relations  of  society,  to  bring  out  all 
its  powers  into  full  and  harmonious  action ;  to  educate 
the  moral  nature,  in  which  the  very  sentiment  of  duty 
resides,    that   it    may   be  fitted  for  an   honorable  and 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  *J 


98  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

worthy  fulfillment  of  the  public  and  private  offices  of 
life ;  to  do  all  this  is  supposed  to  require  no  study,  no 
apprenticeship,  no  preparation  !  " 

Many  teachers,  therefore,  encouraged  by  this  unac- 
countable indifference  in  the  community,  have  entered 
the  teacher's  profession  without  any  idea  of  the  respon- 
sibilities assumed  or  of  the  end  to  be  secured  by  their 
labors,  aside  from  receiving,  at  the  close  of  their  term, 
the  compensation  for  their  service  in  dollars  and  cents. 
And  even  many  who  have  entered  this  profession  with 
good  intentions,  have  made  the  most  deplorable  mis- 
takes from  a  want  of  an  adequate  idea  of  what  consti- 
tutes an  education.  Too  often  has  educating  a  child 
been  considered  simply  the  act  of  imparting  to  it  a 
certain  amount  of  knowledge,  or  of  "carrying  it 
through  "  a  certain  number  of  studies  more  or  less. 
Education  has  too  frequently  been  held  to  be  a  cultiva- 
tion of  the  intellectual  to  the  neglect  of  the  moral 
powers ;  and  the  poor  body  too,  except  among  savages, 
has  had  but  little  share  in  its  privileges  or  benefits.  In 
a  very  large  number  of  our  schools  the  physical  and  the 
moral  have  both  been  sacrificed  to  the  intellectual. 
Even  some  of  our  public  speakers  have  dwelt  upon  the 
necessity  of  intelligence  to  the  perpetuity  of  our  free 
institutions,  scarcely  seeming  to  be  aware  that  intelli- 
gence, without  moral  principle  to  direct  and  regulate 
it,  might  become  the  very  engine  through  which  evil 
men  might  effect  our  overthrow.  Who  has  not  seen 
that  an  educated  man  without  virtue  is  but  the  more 
capable  of  doing  evil  ?  Who  does  not  know  that 
knowledge  misdirected  becomes,  instead  of  a  boon  to 
be  desired,  a  bane  to  be  deprecated  ? 

From  what  has  been  said  I  place  it  among  the  high- 


RIGHT    VIEWS   OF  EDUCATION  99 

est  qualifications  of  the  teacher  that  he  should  have 
just  views  of  education.  I  consider  it  all-important  that 
he  should  have  a  well-defined  object  at  which  to  aim, 
whenever  he  meets  a  young  mind  in  the  transition 
state.  He  should  have  an  ideal  of  a  well-educated 
human  soul,  tenanting  a  healthy,  well-developed  human 
body ;  an  ideal  which  he  at  once,  and  systematically, 
labors  to  reach,  as  does  the  sculptor  when  he  com- 
mences his  work  upon  the  quarried  marble.  "  What 
is  it  to  educate  a  human  being  aright?"  should  be  one 
of  the  first  questions  the  candidate  for  the  teacher's 
office  should  ask  himself,  with  the  deepest  seriousness. 
I  say  the  candidate  ;  for  this  question  should  be  settled, 
if  possible,  before  he  begins  his  work.  It  is  a  great 
question,  and  he  may  not  be  able  to  answer  it  in  a  day. 
Let  him  consult  the  dictates  of  his  own  mind,  —  let 
him  consult  the  teachings  of  experience  and  of  wisdom, 
as  they  are  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  Milton,  Locke, 
Wyse,  Cousin,  Brougham,  and  others  of  the  eastern 
continent,  and  of  Wayland,  Potter,  Mann,  G.  B.  Emer- 
son, Dwight,  and  others  of  our  own  countrymen.  Let 
him,  enlightened  by  all  this,  carefully  observe  human 
nature  around  him;  consider  its  tendencies,  its  wants, 
and  its  capabilities ;  and,  after  a  patient  survey  of  all 
the  truth  he  can  discover  upon  the  subject,  let  ^him 
come  to  an  honest  conclusion  as  to  what  is  a  correct 
answer  to  the  query  with  which  he  started  —  "  What 
is  it  to  educate  a  human  being  aright  ?  " 

The  conclusions  of  the  honest  and  intelligent  inquirer 
after  the  truth  in  this  matter,  will  be  something  like 
the  following :  That  education  (from  e  and  duco,  to 
lead  forth)  is  development;  that  it  is  not  instruction 
merely  —  knowledge,   facts,   rules  —  communicated   by 


IOO  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

the  teacher,  but  it  is  discipline,  it  is  a  waking  up  of 
the  mind,  a  growth  of  the  mind,  —  growth  by  a  healthy- 
assimilation  of  wholesome  aliment.  It  is  an  inspiring  of 
the  mind  with  a  thirst  for  knowledge,  growth,  enlarge- 
ment, —  and  then  a  disciplining  of  its  powers  so  far 
that  it  can  go  on  to  educate  itself.  It  is  the  arousing 
of  the  child's  mind  to  think,  without  thinking  for  it; 
it  is  the  awakening  of  its  powers  to  observe,  to  remem- 
ber, to  reflect,  to  combine.  It  is  not  a  cultivation  of 
the  memory  to  the  neglect  of  everything  else ;  but  it  is 
a  calling  forth  of  all  the  faculties  into  harmonious 
action.  If  to  possess  facts  simply  is  education,  then  an 
encyclopaedia  is  better  educated  than  a  man. 

It  should  be  remarked  that,  though  knowledge  is  not 
education,  yet  there  will  be  no  education  without  knowl- 
edge. Knowledge  is  ever  an  incident  of  true  educa- 
tion. No  man  can  be  properly  educated  without  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge ;  the  mistake  is  in  considering 
knowledge  the  end,  when  it  is  either  the  incident  or  the 
means  of  education.  The  discipline  of  the  mind,  then,  is 
the  great  thing  in  intellectual  training ;  and  the  question 
is  not,  how  much  have  I  acquired  ?  but,  how  have  my 
powers  been  strengthened  in  the  act  of  acquisition  ? 

Nor  should  the  intellectual  be  earlier  cultivated  than 
the  moral  powers  of  the  mind.  The  love  of  moral  truth 
should  be  as  early  addressed  as  the  love  of  knowledge. 
The  conscience  should  be  early  exercised  in  judging  of 
the  character  of  the  pupil's  own  acts,  and  every  oppor- 
tunity afforded  to  strengthen  it  by  legitimate  use.  Nor 
should  the  powers  of  the  mind  be  earlier  cultivated  than 
those  of  the  body.  It  is  the  theory  of  some,  indeed, 
that  the  body  should  engross  most  of  the  attention  for 
several  of  the  first  years  of  childhood.     This,  I  think, 


RIGHT    VIEWS   OF  EDUCATION  101 

is  not  nature's  plan.  She  cultivates  all  the  powers  at 
once,  —  the  body,  mind,  and  heart.  So  should  the 
teacher  do.  "  Education,"  in  the  pertinent  language  of 
Mr.  Fox,1  "  has  reference  to  the  whole  man,  the  body, 
the  mind,  and  the  heart;  its  object,  and,  when  rightly 
conducted,  its  effect,  is  to  make  him  a  complete  creature 
after  his  kind.  To  his  frame  it  would  give  vigor,  activ- 
ity, and  beauty;  to  his  senses,  correctness  and  acute- 
ness  ;  to  his  intellect,  power  and  truthfulness ;  to  his 
heart,  virtue.  The  educated  man  is  not  the  gladiator, 
nor  the  scholar,  nor  the  upright  man,  alone;  but  a  just 
and  well-balanced  combination  of  all  three.  Just  as  the 
educated  tree  is  neither  the  large  root,  nor  the  giant 
branches,  nor  the  rich  foliage,  but  all  of  them  together. 
If  you  would  mark  the  perfect  man,  you  must  not  look 
for  him  in  the  circus,  the  university,  or  the  church,  ex- 
clusively ;  but  you  must  look  for  one  who  has  '  mens 
sana  in  corpore  sano '  —  a  healthful  mind  in  a  healthful 
body.  The  being  in  whom  you  find  this  union  is  the 
only  one  worthy  to  be  called  educated.  To  make  all 
men  such  is  the  object  of  education. " 

I  have  dwelt  thus  fully  on  this  subject,  because  it  is 
so  obvious  that  egregious  mistakes  are  made  in  education. 
How  many  there  are  who  are  called  "good  scholars"  in 
our  schools,  of  whom  we  hear  nothing  after  they  go 
forth  into  the  world.  Their  good  scholarship  consists  in 
that  which  gives  them  no  impulse  to  go  on  to  greater 
attainments  by  themselves.  Their  learning  is  either  that 
of  reception  —  as  the  sponge  takes  in  water  —  or  that  of 
mere  memory.  Their  education  is  not  discipline ;  it  kin- 
dles none  of  those  desires  which  nothing  but  further  prog- 
ress can  satisfy  ;  it  imparts  none  of  that  self-reliance  which 

1  Lecture  before  the  Am.  Institute,  1835. 


102  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

nothing  but  impossibilities  can  ever  subdue.  While 
these  are  pointed  out  by  their  teachers  as  the  ornaments 
of  their  schools,  there  are  others,  known  as  the  heavy, 
dull,  "  poor  scholars,"  in  no  way  distinguished  but  by 
their  stupidity,  —  of  whom  no  hopes  are  entertained 
because  of  them  nothing  is  expected,  —  who  in  after-life 
fairly  outstrip  their  fellows  and  strangely  astonish  their 
teachers.  Almost  every  teacher  of  fifteen  years'  experi- 
ence has  noticed  this.  Now,  why  is  it  so  ?  There  must 
have  been  somehow  in  such  cases  a  gross  misjudgment 
of  character.  Either  those  pupils  who  promised  so 
much  by  their  quickness,  were  educated  wrong,  and 
perhaps  educated  too  much,  while  their  teachers  unwit- 
tingly and  unintentionally  educated  their  less  distin- 
guished companions  far  more  judiciously ;  or  else,  na- 
ture in  such  cases  must  be  said  to  have  been  playing 
such  odd  pranks  that  legitimate  causes  could  not  pro- 
duce their  legitimate  effects.  We  must  charge  nature 
as  being  extremely  capricious,  or  we  must  allege  that 
the  teachers  entirely  misunderstand  their  work,  failing 
where  they  expected  most,  and  succeeding  as  if  by 
chance  —  almost  against  their  will  —  where  they  ex- 
pected least.  I  incline  to  the  latter  alternative;  and 
hence  I  infer  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  teaching  a 
mind  naturally  active  too  much,  —  exciting  it  too  much, 
—  so  that  it  will  prematurely  exhaust  its  energies  and 
gladly  settle  back  into  almost  imbecility ;  and  that  there 
is  such  a  thing  as  leaving  the  mind  so  much  to  its  own 
resources,  that  without  dazzling  the  beholder  like  the 
flash  of  the  meteor  when  it  glares  upon  the  startled 
vision,  it  may  be  silently  gathering  materials  to  support 
the  more  enduring  light  of  the  morning  star  which  anon 
will  arise  in  majesty  and  glory. 


RIGHT    VIEWS   OF  EDUCATION  .      103 

It  will  be  well  for  our  youth  when  our  teachers  shall 
so  understand  human  nature,  and  so  comprehend  the 
science  and  the  art  of  education,  that  these  mistakes  shall 
seldom  occur  ;  and  when  he  who  tills  the  nobler  soil  of 
the  mind,  shall,  with  as  much  faith  and  as  much  cer- 
tainty as  he  who  tills  the  literal  field,  rely  upon  the  ful- 
fillment of  Heaven's  unchangeable  law  :  "  Whatsoever  a 
man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap." 

A    LIBERAL    EDUCATION 

"  That  man,  I  think,  has  had  a  liberal  education  who 
has  been  so  trained  in  youth,  that  his  body  is  the  ready 
servant  of  his  will,  and  does  with  ease  and  pleasure  all 
the  work  that  as  a  mechanism  it  is  capable  of ;  whose 
intellect  is  a  clear,  cold,  logic  engine,  with  all  its  parts 
of  equal  strength,  and  in  smooth  working  order,  ready, 
like  a  steam  engine,  to  be  turned  to  any  kind  of  work, 
and  spin  the  gossamers  as  well  as  forge  the  anchors  of 
the  mind  ;  whose  mind  is  stored  with  a  knowledge  of  the 
great  and  fundamental  truths  of  nature,  and  of  the  laws 
of  her  operations  ;  and  who,  no  stunted  ascetic,  is  full  of 
life  and  fire,  but  whose  passions  are  trained  to  come  to 
heel  by  a  vigorous  will,  the  servant  of  a  tender  con- 
science ;  who  has  learned  to  love  all  beauty  whether  of 
nature  or  of  art,  to  hate  all  vileness,  and  to  respect 
others  as  himself."  —  Thomas  H.  Huxley. 

I.     ITS   NATURE 

1.  Education  is  the  equable  and  harmonious  development  of  the 

whole  man.  —  Stein. 

2.  A  complete  education  increases  the  pupil's  bodily  health  and 

strength ;  gives  him  command  over  his  powers  of  mind  and 
body ;  quickens  his  faculty  of  observation ;  forms  in  him 
prompt  and  accurate  judgment ;  leads  to  delicacy  and  depth 


104  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

in  every  right  feeling ;  makes  him  steadfast  in  his  devotion 
to  every  duty.  Every  branch  of  education  will  increase  his 
knowledge  and  his  skill ;  will  be  an  object  of  thought  and 
action ;  will  add  to  his  capacity  to  know  and  his  ability  to 
do.  — Thomas  Hill. 

3.  No  system  of  education  is  complete  till  it  concerns  itself  for  the 

entire  body  and  all  the  parts  of  human  life  —  a  character  high, 
erect,  broad-shouldered,  symmetrical,  swift ;  not  the  mind,  as 
I  said,  but  the  man.  Our  familiar  phrase,  "  whole-souled," 
expresses  the  aim  of  learning  as  well  as  any.  You  want  to 
rear  men  fit  and  ready  for  all  spots  and  crises,  prompt  and 
busy  in  affairs,  gentle  among  little  children,  self-reliant  in 
danger,  genial  in  company,  sharp  in  a  jury  box,  tenacious  at 
a  town  meeting,  unseducible  in  a  crowd,  tender  at  a  sick-bed, 
not  likely  to  jump  into  the  first  boat  at  a  shipwreck,  affection- 
ate and  respectable  at  home,  obliging  in  a  traveling  party, 
shrewd  and  just  in  the  market,  reverent  and  punctual  at  the 
church  ;  .  .  .  brave  in  action,  patient  in  suffering,  believing 
and  cheerful  everywhere,  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord. 
This  is  the  manhood  that  our  age  and  country  are  asking  of 
its  educators,  —  well-built  and  vital,  manifold  and  harmonious, 
full  of  faith.  —  Frederick  D.  Huntington. 

4.  The  purpose  of  education  is  to  give  to  the  body  and  to  the  soul 

all  the  beauty  and  all  the  perfection  of  which  they  are  capa- 
ble.—  Plato. 

5.  Education  is  the  endeavor  to  liberate  the  ideal  human  being 

that  lies  concealed  in  every  child.  —  Richter. 

6.  Every  child  is  a  thought  of  God's.     The  business  of  education 

is  to  condition  that  thought  for  fullest,  freest  utterance.  — 
Emerson. 

7.  We  have  to  educate,  not  a  soul  nor  yet  a  body,  but  a  man,  and 

we  cannot  divide  him.  —  Montaigne. 

8.  The  whole  boy  comes  to  school,  and  we  teach  only  a  part  of 

him.  —  Parker. 

9.  Education  is  a  preparation  for  complete  living.  —  Spencer. 

10.  Education  is  a  preparation  of  the  individual  for  reciprocal  union 

with  society.  —  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris. 

11.  A  complete  and  generous  education  fits  a  man  to  perform  justly, 

skillfully,  and  magnanimously  all  the  offices,  both  public  and 
private,  of  peace  and  war.  —  Milton. 


RIGHT    VIEWS    OF  EDUCATION  105 

12.  The  final  aim  of  education  is  character.     The  worth  of  a  man 

consists  not  in  what  he  knows,  but  in  how  he  wills. — 
Herbart. 

13.  What  a  man  has  learned  is  of  importance,  but  what  he  is,  what 

he  can  do,  what  he  will  become,  are  significant  things.  — 
Helps. 

14.  A  child's  mind  cannot  be  made  to  order.     Its  powers  cannot  be 

imparted  by  the  schoolmaster.  It  is  not  a  receptacle  to  be 
filled  with  knowledge,  and  built  up  after  the  teacher's  ideal. — 
Spencer. 

15.  Education   can   only  unfold  and  develop  the  endowments  of 

birth.     It  cannot  create  anything  new.  —  Rosenkranz. 

16.  Education  is  not  stuffing  the  memory  with  words  and  leaving 

the  understanding  and  the  conscience  void.  —  Montaigne. 

17.  Education  does  not  mean  teaching  people  to  know  what  they  do 

not  know.  It  means  teaching  them  to  behave  as  they  do  not 
behave.  It  is  not  teaching  the  young  the  shapes  of  letters 
and  the  tricks  of  numbers,  and  then  leaving  them  to  turn 
their  arithmetic  into  roguery,  and  their  literature  into  lust. 
It  is,  on  the  contrary,  training  them  into  the  perfect  exercise 
and  kingly  continence  of  their  bodies  and  their  souls.  It  is 
a  painful,  continual,  difficult  work,  to  be  done  by  kindness, 
by  watching,  by  warning,  by  precept,  and  by  praise,  but  above 
all  —  by  example.  —  Ruskin. 

II.    MEANS 

i.    The  primary  principle  of  education  is  to  arouse  the  child  to 
self-activity.  —  Hamilton. 

2.  Every  man  who  is  educated  at  all,  is  and  must  be,  self-educated. 

—  Hopkins. 

3.  It  is  what  the  child  does  for  himself  and  by  himself,  under  wise 

guidance,  that  educates  him.  —  Swett. 

4.  All  learning  is  self-teaching.     The  great  business  of  the  teacher 

is  to  teach  the  child  to  teach  himself.  —  Payne. 

5.  A  man  is  almost  educated  when  he  has  learned  how  to  learn. 

6.  The  mind  developsN  by  mysterious  contact  of  spirit  with  spirit ; 

thought  kindling  at  a  fire  of  living  thought.  —  Carlyle. 

7.  The  understanding  is  not  a  vessel  which  is  to  be  filled,  but  fire- 

wood which  needs  to  be  kindled ;  and  love  of  learning  and 
love  of  truth  are  what  should  kindle  it.  —  Plutarch. 


106  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

8.  Education  is  training,  not  telling.  —  Horace  Mann. 

9.  A  child's  mind  grows  like  his  body,  by  being  nourished,  not  by 

being  stretched  on  a  rack.  —  Comenius. 

10.  In  education  the  process  of  self-development  should   be  en- 

couraged to  the  fullest  extent.  Children  should  be  led  to 
make  their  own  investigations,  and  to  draw  their  own  infer- 
ences. They  should  be  told  as  little  as  possible,  and  induced 
to  discover  as  much  as  possible.  Humanity  has  progressed 
solely  by  self-instruction ;  and  that  to  achieve  the  best  results, 
each  mind  must  progress  somewhat  after  the  same  fashion,  is 
continually  proved  by  the  marked  success  of  self-made  men. 
Those  who  have  been  brought  up  under  the  ordinary  school 
drill,  and  have  carried  away  with  them  the  idea  that  education 
is  practicable  only  in  that  style,  will  think  it  hopeless  to  make 
children  their  own  teachers.  —  Spencer. 

11.  He  only  can  teach  who  looks  down  upon  the  elements  of  his 

department,  from  the  heights  of  broad  and  solid  attainment. 
Moreover,  whatever  his  knowledge  may  be,  he  cannot  teach 
with  vigor  after  he  ceases  to  be  a  daily  learner.  He  must 
keep  the  machinery  of  his  own  mind  hot  with  action,  if  he 
would  excite  activity  in  the  minds  of  his  students.  Example 
is  better  than  precept,  inspiration  is  better  than  instruction. 
...  It  is  not  enough  that  a  teacher  be  learned ;  he  must  be 
earnest,  must  love  his  work,  and  love  young  men ;  he  must 
enter  into  an  unfeigned  sympathy  with  them  in  their  mental 
and  moral  life ;  he  must  pour  out  upon  them  the  results  of  his 
reading,  his  thought,  and  experience,  with  unsparing  prodi- 
gality, forgetful  of  himself  and  his  own  reputation;  even 
willing,  like  a  true  mother,  to  give  up  his  own  mental  being 
if  he  can  only  see  the  life  of  other  souls  springing  into  power 
under  his  hand.  —  Martin  B.  Anderson. 

III.    IMPORTANCE 

1.  What  a  man  is  he  owes  to  his  education.     The  man  who  has 

not  been  disciplined  is  a  savage.  —  Kant. 

2.  A  man  has  to  be  educated  in  order  to  become  a  man. 

—  Comenius. 

3.  It  is  education  that  makes  thinking  men  of  two-footed  animals . 

—  Locke. 


RIGHT    VIEWS   OF  EDUCATION  \OJ 

4.  We  are  born  weak  and  stand  in  need  of  assistance ;    we  are 

born  ignorant  and  stand  in  need  of  knowledge ;  we  are  born 
stupid  and  stand  in  need  of  understanding.  What  we  lack 
at  birth  and  need  when  grown  is  conferred  on  us  by  educa- 
tion.—  Rousseau. 

5.  A  child  were  better  unborn  than  untaught.  — Gascoigne. 

6.  The  great  problem  in  education  is  to  reconcile  liberty  with  the 

necessity  of  constraint.  —  Kant. 

7.  A  disobedient  boy  is  the  most  savage  of  all  wild  beasts. — 

Plato. 

8.  What  you  want  in  the  life  of  the  nation  to-morrow,  put  into  the 

schools  to-day. 

9.  Republican  institutions  furnish  as  great  facilities  for  wicked 

men  in  all  departments  of  wickedness  as  phosphorus  and 
lucifer  matches  furnish  to  the  incendiary.  —  Horace  Mann. 

10.  Scholarship  without  character  is  a  bane  and  not  a  boon. — 

Page. 

11.  A  boy  were  better  untaught  than  unprincipled.  —  Montaigne. 

IV.     WARNING 

1 .  The  masters  of  education  hold  in  their  hands  the  future  of  the 

world.  —  Leibniz. 

2.  Next  to  creating  a  human  soul,  the  divinest  thing  in  the  universe 

is  educating  it  aright.  —  Plato. 

3.  To  fashion  a  soul  is  a  fine  art  and  a  perilous  undertaking.  — 

Marion. 

4.  The  whole  period  of  youth  is  one  essentially  of  formation,  edi- 

fication, instruction,  —  I  use  the  words  with  their  weight  in 
them,  —  in-taking  of  stores,  establishment  in  vital  habits, 
hopes,  and  faiths.  There  is  not  an  hour  of  it  but  is  trembling 
with  destinies,  —  not  a  moment  of  which,  once  past,  the  ap- 
pointed work  can  ever  be  done  again,  or  the  neglected  blow 
ever  struck  on  the  cold  iron.  Take  your  Venetian  vase  out 
of  the  furnace,  and  strew  chaff  over  it  in  its  transparent  heat 
and  recover  that  to  its  clearness  and  rubied  glory  when  the 
north  wind  has  blown  on  it ;  but  do  not  think  to  strew  chaff 
over  the  child  fresh  from  God's  presence,  and  bring  the 
heavenly  colors  back  to  him  —  at  least  not  in  this  world.  — 
Ruskin. 


108  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

TOPICAL  OUTLINE 
I.    Ideals. 

i .  Sculpturing  with  an  ideal  in  mind. 

2.  Sculpturing  without  an  ideal. 

3.  The  two  compared. 

4.  The  artist  and  the  true  teacher  compared. 

5.  The  danger  of  teaching  without  forethought. 

6.  Emerson's  argument  for  special  preparation  for  teaching. 
II.   False  Views  of  Education. 

1 .  Education  is  merely  the  imparting  of  knowledge. 

2.  It  is  carrying  pupils  through  certain  studies. 

3.  It  is  a  cultivation  of  the  intellect  to  the  neglect  of  morals. 
4  It  is  stuffing  the  memory  with  a  knowledge  of  books. 

5.    It  considers  knowledge  the  end  of  education. 

[The  student  should  extend  this  list  independently.] 

III.  Just  Views  of  Education. 

1.  How  obtained. 

2.  Education  is  development ;  discipline  of  mind  as  well  as 

instruction ;  assimilation  as  well  as  accumulation  of 
knowledge ;  a  waking-up  and  not  a  going-to-sleep  pro- 
cess. It  is  arousing  a  pupil  to  a  desire  for  education, 
and  teaching  him  to  educate  himself;  it  is  arousing  a 
child  to  think  without  thinking  for  it ;  it  is  a  calling 
forth  of  all  the  powers  of  the  child  into  harmonious 
action ;  it  is  not  acquisition  so  much  as  discipline  in 
the  act  of  acquisition ;  it  is  simultaneous  cultivation  of 
the  whole  childhood,  heart  and  hand  —  taste,  con- 
science, and  will,  by  appropriate  exercises ;  it  concerns 
doing  and  being  as  well  as  knowing. 

3.  Fox's  view  of  education. 

IV.  Egregious  Mistakes. 

1.  Esteeming  scholarship  as   something   better   than    an 

abiding  love  of  learning. 

2.  Overvaluing  pupils  with  good  memories. 

3.  Setting  the  reciters  above  the  thinkers. 

4.  Underestimating  the  dullards. 

5.  Overstimulation  of  the  sensitive  and  ambitious  pupils. 

6.  Allowing  pupils  to  exhaust  vitality  in  study. 

[The  student  should  extend  this  list  independently.] 


RIGHT    VIEWS   OF  EDUCATION  109 

SUBJECTS  FOR  DISCUSSION   OR    ESSAYS 

i .    False  Views  of  Education. 

Chubb's  Essays  of  Montaigne,  pp.  7-24. 

2.  What  Education  rightly  is. 

Morgan's  Studies  in  Pedagogy,  Chap.  I. 

Putnam's  Manual  of  Pedagogics,  Chap.  I. 

Arnold's  Waymarks  for  Teachers,  pp.  9-1 1. 

Morgan's  Educational  Mosaics,  pp.  119,  135,  146. 

Hoose's  On  the  Province  of  Methods  of  Teaching,  Chap.  II. 

3.  Dunces  and  Dawdlers. 

Smiles's  Life  and  Labors,  Chap.  IV. 

4.  The  Artist's  Material  and  the  Teacher's. 

Morgan's  Studies  in  Pedagogy,  p.  269. 

5.  Information  and  Education. 

Hufford's  Selections  from  Ruskin,  p.  438. 
Morgan's  Studies  in  Pedagogy,  p.  12. 

6.  What  becomes  of  First  Honor  Students  ? 

Thwing's  American  Colleges,  Chap.  X. 

7.  Scholarship  and  Character. 

Smiles's  Character,  Chap.  I. 
Morgan's  Studies  in  Pedagogy,  pp.  343-348. 
Todd's  Student's  Manual,  Chap.  IX. 
Morgan's  Educational  Mosaics,  p.  135. 


CHAPTER  VII 
RIGHT  MODES  OF  TEACHING 

"Teaching  is  determining  the  learner  to  self-activity."—  Sir 
William  Hamilton. 

"All  the  best  cultivation  of  a  child's  mind  is  obtained  by  the 
child's  own  exertions,  and  the  master's  success  may  be  measured  by 
the  degree  in  which  he  can  bring  his  scholar  to  make  such  exertions 
absolutely  without  aid."  —  Dr.  Temple. 

"  The  main  business  of  the  teacher  is  to  get  the  pupil  to  teach 
himself." — Joseph  Payne. 

From  what  has  been  said  of  education,  it  is  very  obvi- 
ous that  it  is  no  small  thing  to  be  a  successful  teacher. 
It  is  admitted  by  all  that  the  teacher  should  be  apt  to 
teach.  He  cannot  be  useful  without  this.  He  may 
have  an  unimpeachable  character;  he  may  have  the 
most  liberal  and  thorough  literary  acquirements  ;  he  may 
deeply  feel  his  responsibility,  and  yet  after  all  he  may 
fail  to  teach  successfully. 

Aptness  to  teach  has  been  said  to  be  a  native  endow- 
ment, a  sort  of  instinct,  and  therefore  incapable  of  being 
improved  by  experience  or  instruction, — an  instinct  such 
as  that  which  guides  the  robin,  though  hatched  in  an 
oven,  to  build  a  perfect  nest  like  that  of  its  parent,  with- 
out ever  having  seen  one.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  such 
instincts  in  men  are  rare ;  but  that  aptness  to  teach,  like 
aptness  to  do  anything  else,  is  usually  an  acquired  power, 
based  upon  a  correct  knowledge  of  what  is  to  be  done 
and  some  accurate  estimate  of  the  fitness  of  the  means 


RIGHT  MODES   OF   TEACHING  III 

used  for  the  end.  If  there  are  exceptions  to  this,  they 
are  very  uncommon  ;  and  the  safer  way,  therefore,  for 
the  majority  of  teachers,  is  to  study  carefully  the  ra- 
tionale of  their  processes,  and  to  rely  rather  upon  sound 
and  philosophical  principles  in  their  teaching,  than  upon 
a  very  doubtful  intuition. 

One  of  the  most  common  errors  into  which  young 
teachers  fall  (and  some  old  ones  too),  is  that  of  mis- 
judging of  the  degree  of  assistance  which  the  young 
scholar  needs  in  the  pursuit  of  learning.  There  are  a 
few  who  forget  the  difficulties  which  impeded  their  own 
perception  of  new  truths  when  learners,  and  therefore 
have  no  sympathy  with  the  perplexities  which  surround 
the  children  under  their  charge  when  they  encounter 
like  difficulties.  They  refuse  to  lend  a  helping  hand, 
even  where  it  is  needed,  and  by  making  light  of  the 
child's  doubts,  perhaps  sneering  at  his  unsuccessful 
struggles,  they  dishearten  him  so  far  that  imaginary 
obstacles  become  insurmountable,  and  he  gives  up  in 
despair.  But  a  far  more  numerous  class  tend  toward 
the  other  extreme.  From  a  mistaken  kindness,  or  a 
mistaken  estimate  of  the  child's  ability,  or  both,  they 
are  disposed  to  do  quite  too  much  for  him,  and  thus 
they  diminish  his  power  to  help  himself.  The  child 
that  is  constantly  dandled  upon  the  lap  of  its  nurse,^and 
borne  in  her  arms  to  whatever  point  it  may  desire  to 
go,  does  not  soon  learn  to  walk  ;  and  when  it  at  length 
makes  the  attempt,  it  moves  not  with  the  firm  tread  of 
him  who  was  early  taught  to  use  his  own  limbs.  There 
is  a  great  deal  of  literary  dandling  practiced  in  our 
schools  ;  and  as  a  consequence,  a  great  many  of  our 
children  are  mere  sickly  nurslings,  relying  upon  lead- 
ing strings  while  in  the  school,  and  falling,  for  very 


112  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

weakness,  just  as  soon  as  the  supporting  hand  is  with- 
drawn. This  evil  is  so  common,  and  in  some  instances 
so  monstrous,1  that  I  shall  be  pardoned  if  I  dwell  upon 
it  a  little  more  fully. 

In  illustrating  this  subject,  I  must  mention  two  pro- 
cesses of  teaching,  not  indeed  exactly  opposite  to  each 
other,  though  widely  different,  —  into  one  or  both  of 
which  many  of  our  teachers  are  very  liable  to  fall.  I 
shall,  for  the  sake  of  a  name,  designate  the  former  as 
the 

SECTION  I.  —  POURING-IN   PROCESS    . 

This  consists  in  lecturing  to  a  class  of  children  upon 
every  subject  which  occurs  to  the  teacher,  it  being  his 
chief  aim  to  bring  before  them  as  many  facts  in  a 
limited  time  as  possible.  It  is  as  if  he  should  provide 
himself  with  a  basket  of  sweetmeats,  and  every  time  he 
should  come  within  reach  of  a  child,  should  seize  him, 
and  compel  him  to  swallow  —  regardless  of  the  condi- 
tion of  his  stomach  —  whatever  trash  he  should  happen 
first  to  force  into  his  mouth.  Children  are  indeed  fond 
of  sweetmeats,  but  they  do  not  like  to  have  them  admin- 
istered, —  and  every  physiologist  knows  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  eating  enough  even  of  an  agreeable  thing  to 
make  one  sick,  and  thus  produce  loathing  forever  after. 
Now  many  teachers  are  just  such  misguided  caterers 
for  the  mind.     They  are  ready  to  seize  upon  the  victims 

1  Not  long  since  I  visited  a  school,  where  the  teacher  with  much  self- 
complacency  requested  me  to  examine  the  writing  of  the  children.  It 
was  indeed  very  fair.  But  when  I  drew  from  him  the  fact  that  he  first 
wrote  each  page  himself  with  a  lead  pencil,  and  only  required  his  scholars 
to  black  his  marks  over  with  ink,  and  that  with  unremitting  labor  he  did 
this  week  after  week  for  all  the  writers  in  his  school,  I  knew  not  which 
most  to  wonder  at,  the  docility  of  the  children  or  the  weakness  of  the 
teacher.     The  writing  ceased  to  be  wonderful. 


RIGHT  MODES   OF   TEACHING  113 

of  their  kindness,  force  open  their  mental  gullets,  and 
pour  in,  without  mercy  and  without  discretion,  what- 
ever sweet  thing  they  may  have  at  hand,  even  though 
they  surfeit  and  nauseate  the  poor  sufferer.  The  mind, 
by  this  process,  becomes  a  mere  passive  recipient,  taking 
in  without  much  resistance  whatever  is  presented  till  it 
is  full. 

"  A  passive  recipient!  "  said  one  to  his  friend,  "what 
is  a  passive  recipient?"  "A  passive  recipient,"  re- 
plied his  friend,  "  is  a  two-gallon  jug.  It  holds  just 
two  gallons,  and  as  it  is  made  of  potters'  ware,  it  can 
never  hold  but  just  two  gallons/'  This  is  not  an  unfit 
illustration  of  what  I  mean  by  making  the  mind  a 
passive  recipient.  Whenever  the  teacher  does  not  first 
excite  inquiry,  first  prepare  the  mind  by  waking  it  up  to 
a  desire  to  know,  and  if  possible  to  find  out  by  itself, 
but  proceeds  to  think  for  the  child,  and  to  give  him  the 
results,  before  they  are  desired,  or  before  they  have 
been  sought  for,  —  he  makes  the  mind  of  the  child  a 
two-gallon  jug,  into  which  he  may  pour  just  two  gallons, 
but  no  more.  And  if  day  after  day  he  should  continue 
to  pour  in,  day  after  day  he  may  expect  that  what  he 
pours  in  will  all  run  over.  The  mind,  so  far  as  reten- 
tion is  concerned,  will  act  like  the  jug ;  that  is,  a  part  of 
what  is  poured  in  to-day  will  be  diluted  by  a  part  of 
that  which  is  forced  in  to-morrow,  and  that  again  will 
be  partially  displaced  and  partially  mingled  with  the 
next  day's  pouring,  till  at  length  there  will  be  nothing 
characteristic  left.  But  aside  from  retention,  there  is  a 
great  difference  between  the  jug  and  the  mind.  The 
former  is  inert  material,  and  may  be  as  good  a  jug  after 
such  use  as  before.  But  the  mind  suffers  by  every 
unsuccessful  effort  to  retain. 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  8 


114  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

This  process  of  lecturing  children  into  imbecility  is 
altogether  too  frequently  practiced ;  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  intelligent  teachers  will  pause  and  inquire 
before  they  pursue  it  further. 

The  other  process  to  which  I  wish  to  call  attention, 
is  that  which,  for  the  sake  of  distinguishing  it  from  the 
first,  I  shall  denominate  the 

SECTION   II. DRA WING-OUT    PROCESS 

This  consists  in  asking  what  the  lawyers  call  lead- 
ing  questions.  It  is  practiced,  usually,  whenever  the 
teacher  desires  to  help  along  the  pupil.  "  John,"  says 
the  teacher  when  conducting  a  recitation  in  long 
division,  "John,  what  is  the  number  to  be  divided 
called ?"  John  hesitates.  "Is  it  the  dividend ?"  says 
the  teacher.  "Yes,  sir  —  the  dividend."  "Well,  John, 
what  is  that  which  is  left  after  dividing  called  ?  —  the  re- 
mainder — is  it  ?  "  "  Yes,  sir."  A  visitor  now  enters  the 
room,  and  the  teacher  desires  to  show  off  John's  talents. 
"  Well,  John,  of  what  denomination  is  the  remainder  ? " 

John  looks  upon  the  floor. 

"  Isn't  it  always  the  same  as  the  dividend,  John  ? " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  Very  well,  John,"  says  the  teacher  soothingly,  "  what 
denomination  is  this  dividend  ? "  pointing  to  the  work 
upon  the  board.     "  Dollars,  is  it  not  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir;  dollars." 

"Very  well;  now  what  is  this  remainder ?" 

John  hesitates. 

"Why  dollars  too,  isn't  it?  "  says  the  teacher. 

"  Oh  yes,  sir,  dollars ! "  says  John,  energetically, 
while  the  teacher  complacently  looks  at  the  visitor  to 
see  if  he  has  noticed  how  correctly  John  has  answered ! 


RIGHT  MODES    OF   TEACHING  115 

A  class  is  called  to  be  examined  in  history.  They 
have  committed  the  text-book  to  memory,  that  is,  they 
have  learned  the  words.  They  go  on  finely  for  a  time. 
At  length  one  hesitates.  The  teacher  adroitly  asks  a 
question  in  the  language  of  the  text.  Thus  :  "  Early  in 
the  morning,  on  the  nth  of  September,  what  did  the 
whole  British  army  do  ? "  The  pupil,  thus  timely  re- 
assured, proceeds  :  "Early  in  the  morning,  on  the  nth 
of  September,  the  whole  British  army,  drawn  up  in 
two  divisions,  commenced  the  expected  assault."  Here 
again  she  pauses.  The  teacher  proceeds  to  inquire : 
"Well, — 'Agreeably  to  the  plan  of  Howe,  the  right 
wing'  did  what? " 

Pupil.  —  "  Agreeably  to  the  plan  of  Howe,  the  right 
wing  —  " 

Teacher.  —  "  The  right  wing  commanded  by  whom  ?  " 

Pupil.  —  "  Oh  !  '  Agreeably  to  the  plan  of  Howe,  the 
right  wing,  commanded  by  Knyphausen,  made  a  feint  of 
crossing  the  Brandywine  at  Chad's  Ford,'  "  etc. 

This  is  a  very  common  way  of  helping  a  dull  pupil 
out  of  a  difficulty ;  and  I  have  seen  it  done  so.  adroitly, 
that  a  company  of  visitors  would  agree  that  it  was 
wonderful  to  see  how  thoroughly  the  children  had 
been  instructed! 

I  may  further  illustrate  this  drawing-out  process^!)} 
describing  an  occurrence,  which,  in  company  with  a 
friend  and  fellow-laborer,  I  once  witnessed.  A  teacher, 
whose  school  we  visited,  called  upon  the  class  in  Col- 
burn's  First  Lessons.  They  rose,  and  in  single  file 
marched  to  the  usual  place,  with  their  books  in  hand, 
and  stood  erect.     It  was  a  very  good-looking  class. 

"Where  do  you  begin  ? "  said  the  teacher,  taking  the 
book. 


Il6  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

Pupils,  —  On  the  84th  page,  3d  question. 

Teacher.  —  Read  it,  Charles. 

Charles.  — {Reads.)  "  A  man  being  asked  how  many 
sheep  he  had,  said  that  he  had  them  in  two  pastures  ; 
in  one  pasture  he  had  eight;  that  three  fourths  of 
these  were  just  one  third  of  what  he  had  in  the  other. 
How  many  were  there  in  the  other  ?  " 

Teacher.  —  Well,  Charles,  you  must  first  get  one 
fourth  of  eight,  must  you  not  ? 

Charles.  —  Yes,  sir. 

Teacher.  —  Well,  one  fourth  of  eight  is  two,  isn't  it  ? 

Charles.  —  Yes,  sir ;  one  fourth  of  eight  is  two. 

Teacher.  —  Well,  then,  three  fourths  will  be  three 
times  two,  won't  it  ? 

Charles.  —  Yes,  sir. 

Teacher.  —  Well,  three  times  two  are  six,  eh  ? 

Charles.  —  Yes,  sir. 

Teacher.  —  Very  well.  (A  pause.)  Now  the  book 
says  that  this  six  is  just  one  third  of  what  he  had  in  the 
other  pasture,  don't  it  ? 

Charles.  —  Yes,  sir. 

Teacher.  —  Then  if  six  is  one  third,  three  thirds  will 
be  —  three  times  six,  won't  it  ? 

Charles.  —  Yes,  sir. 

Teacher.  —  And  three  times  six  are  —  eighteen, 
ain't  it  ? 

Charles.  —  Yes,  sir  ! 

Teacher.  —  Then  he  had  eighteen  sheep  in  the  other 
pasture,  had  he  ? 

Charles.  —  Yes,  sir  ! 

Teacher.  —  Next,  take  the  next  one. 

At  this  point  I  interposed,  and  asked  the  teacher  if 
he  would  request  Charles  to  go  through  it  alone.     "  Oh, 


RIGHT  MODES   OF  TEACHING  II7 

yes,"  said  the  teacher;  "  Charles,  you  may  do  it  again." 
Charles  again  read  the  question,  and  —  looked  up. 
"Well,"  said  the  teacher,  "you  must  first  get  one 
fourth  of  eight,  mustn't  you  ?  "  "  Yes,  sir."  "  And 
one  fourth  of  eight  is  two,  isn't  it?  "  "Yes,  sir."  And 
so  the  process  went  on  as  before  till  the  final  eighteen 
sheep  were  drawn  out  as  before.  The  teacher  now 
looked  round,  with  an  air  which  seemed  to  say,  "  Now  I 
suppose  you  are  satisfied." 

"  Shall  /  ask  Charles  to  do  it  again  ?  "  said  I.  The 
teacher  assented.  Charles  again  read  the  question, 
and  again  —  looked  up.  I  waited,  and  he  waited ;  —  but 
the  teacher  could  not  wait.  "Why,  Charles,"  said  he, 
impatiently ;  "  you  want  one  fourth  of  eight,  don't  you  ? " 
"Yes,  sir,"  said  Charles,  promptly;  and  I  thought  best 
not  to  insist  further  at  this  time  upon  a  repetition  of 
" yes,  sir"  and  the  class  were  allowed  to  proceed  in 
their  own  way. 

This  is,  indeed,  an  extreme  case,  and  yet  it  is  but  a 
fair  sample  of  that  teacher's  method  of  stupefying  mind. 
This  habit  of  assisting  the  pupil  to  some  extent,  is,  how- 
ever, a  very  common  one,  and  as  deleterious  to  mind 
as  it  is  common.  The  teacher  should  at  once  abandon 
this  practice,  and  require  the  scholar  to  do  the  talking  at 
recitation.  I  need  hardly  suggest  that  such  a  course  of 
extraction  at  recitation,  aside  from  the  waste  of  time  by 
both  parties,  and  the  waste  of  strength  by  the  teacher, 
has  a  direct  tendency  to  make  the  scholar  miserably 
superficial.  For  why  should  he  study,  if  he  knows  from 
constant  experience  that  the  teacher,  by  a  leading  ques- 
tion, will  relieve  him  from  all  embarrassment?  It  has 
often  been  remarked,  that  "the  teacher  makes  the 
school."     Perhaps  in  no  way  can  he  more  effectually 


Il8  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

make  an   inefficient   school,   than  by  this  drawing-out 
process. 

I  look  upon  the  two  processes  just  described,  as  very 
prominent  and  prevalent  faults  in  our  modern  teaching; 
and  if  by  describing  them  thus  fully,  I  shall  induce  any 
to  set  a  guard  upon  their  practice  in  this  particular,  I 
shall  feel  amply  rewarded. 

SECTION   III. THE   MORE   EXCELLENT   WAY 

It  is  always  a*  very  difficult  question  for  the  teacher  to 
settle,  "How  far  shall  I  help  the  pupil,  and  how  far  shall 
the  pupil  be  required  to  help  himself  ?"  The  teaching 
of  nature  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  pupil  should 
be  taught  mainly  to  depend  on  his  own  resources.  This, 
too,  I  think  is  the  teaching  of  common  sense.  Whatever 
is  learned  should  be  so  thoroughly  learned,  that  the  next 
and  higher  step  may  be  comparatively  easy.  And  the 
teacher  should  always  inquire,  when  he  is  about  to  dis- 
miss one  subject,  whether  the  class  understand  it  so  well 
that  they  can  go  on  to  the  next.  He  may,  indeed,  some- 
times give  a  word  of  suggestion  during  the  preparation 
of  a  lesson,  and,  by  a  seasonable  hint,  save  the  scholar 
the  needless  loss  of  much  time.  But  it  is  a  very  great 
evil  if  the  pupils  acquire  the  habit  of  running  to  the 
teacher  as  soon  as  a  slight  difficulty  presents  itself,  to 
request  him  to  remove  it.  Some  teachers,  when  this 
happens,  will  send  the  scholar  to  his  seat  with  a  reproof 
perhaps,  while  others,  with  a  mistaken  kindness,  will 
answer  the  question  or  solve  the  problem  themselves, 
as  the  shortest  way  to  get  rid  of  it.  Both  these  courses 
are,  in  general,  wrong.  The  inquirer  should  never  be 
frowned  upon;  this  may  discourage  him.  He  should 
not  be  relieved  from  labor,  as  this  will  diminish  his  self- 


RIGHT  MODES   OF   TEACHING  1 1 9 

reliance  without  enlightening  him ;  for  whatever  is  done 
for  a  scholar  without  his  having  studied  closely  upon  it 
himself,  makes  but  a  feeble  impression  upon  him,  and 
is  soon  forgotten.  The  true  way  is,  neither  to  discour- 
age inquiry  nor  answer  the  question.  Converse  with 
the  scholar  a  little  as  to  the  principles  involved  in  the 
question  ;  refer  him  to  principles  which  he  has  before 
learned,  or  has  now  lost  sight  of ;  perhaps  call  his 
attention  to  some  rule  or  explanation  before  given  to 
the  class;  go  just  so  far  as  to  enlighten  him  a  little, 
and////  him  on  the  scent,  then  leave  him  to  achieve  the 
victory  himself.  There  is  a  great  satisfaction  in  discov- 
ering a  difficult  thing  for  oneself,  —  and  the  teacher 
does  the  scholar  a  lasting  injury  who  takes  this  pleasure 
from  him.  The  teacher  should  be  simply  suggestive, 
but  should  never  take  the  glory  of  a  victory  from  the 
scholar  by  doing  his  work  for  him,  at  least  not  until  he 
has  given  it  a  thorough  trial  himself. 

The  skill  of  the  teacher,  then,  will  be  best  manifested, 
if  he  can  contrive  to  awaken  such  a  spirit  in  the  pupil, 
that  he  shall  be  very  unwilling  to  be  assisted ;  if  he  can 
kindle  up  such  a  zeal,  that  the  pupil  will  prefer  to  try 
again  and  again  before  he  will  consent  that  the  teacher 
shall  interpose.  I  shall  never  forget  a  class  of  boys, 
some  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age,  who  in  the -study 
of  algebra  had  imbibed  this  spirit.  A  difficult  question 
had  been  before  the  class  a  day  or  two,  when  I  sug- 
gested giving  them  some  assistance.  "Not  to-day •,  sir" 
was  the  spontaneous  exclamation  of  nearly  every  one. 
Nor  shall  I  forget  the  expression  that  beamed  from 
the  countenance  of  one  of  them,  when,  elated  with  his 
success,  he  forgot  the  proprieties  of  the  school  and 
audibly  exclaimed,  "  I've  got  it !  I've  got  it !  "     It  was 


120  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

a  great  day  for  him ;  he  felt,  as  he  never  before  had 
felt,  his  own  might.  Nor  was  it  less  gratifying  to  me 
to  find  that  his  fellows  were  still  unwilling  to  know  his 
method  of  solution.  The  next  day  a  large  number 
brought  a  solution  of  their  own,  each  showing  evidence 
of  originality.  A  class  having  once  attained  to  a  feel- 
ing like  this,  will  go  on  to  educate  themselves,  when 
they  shall  have  left  the  school  and  the  living  teacher. 

As  to  the  communication  of  knowledge,  aside  from 
that  immediately  connected  with  school  studies,  there 
is  a  more  excellent  way  than  that  of  pouring  it  in  by 
the  process  already  described.  It  is  but  just  that  I 
should  give  a  specimen  of  the  method  of  doing  this.  I 
shall  now  proceed  to  do  so,  under  the  head  of 

SECTION   IV.  —  WAKING   UP    MIND 

The  teacher  of  any  experience  knows  that  if  he  will 
excite  a  deep  and  profitable  interest  in  his  school,  he 
must  teach  many  things  besides  book  studies.  In  our 
common  schools,  there  will  always  be  a  company  of 
small  children,  who,  not  yet  having  learned  to  read 
understandingly,  will  have  no  means  of  interesting 
themselves,  and  must  depend  mainly  upon  the  teacher 
for  the  interest  they  take  in  the  school.  This  to  them 
is  perhaps  the  most  critical  period  of  their  lives.  What- 
ever impression  is  now  made  upon  them  will  be  endur- 
ing. If  there  they  become  disgusted  with  the  dullness 
and  confinement  of  school,  and  associate  the  idea  of 
pain  and  repulsiveness  with  that  of  learning,  who  can 
describe  the  injury  done  to  their  minds  ?  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  teacher  is  really  skillful,  and  excites  in 
them  a  spirit  of  inquiry,  and  leads  them  in  suitable 
ways  to  observe,  to  think,  and  to  feel  that  the  school  is 


RIGHT  MODES    OF   TEACHING  121 

a  happy  place  even  for  children,  it  is  one  great  point 
gained. 

I  may  suggest  here,  then,  that  it  would  be  well  to 
set  apart  a  few  minutes  once  a  day  for  a  general  exer- 
cise in  the  school,  when  it  should  be  required  of  all  to 
lay  by  their  studies,  assume  an  erect  attitude,  and  give 
their  undivided  attention  to  whatever  the  teacher  may 
bring  before  them.  Such  a  course  would  have  its 
physiological  advantages.  It  would  relieve  the  minds 
of  all  for  a  few  minutes.  The  erect  attitude  is  a  health- 
ful one.  It  would  also  serve  as  a  short  respite  from 
duty,  and  thus  refresh  the  older  scholars  for  study.  I 
may  further  add,  that,  for  the  benefit  of  these  small 
children,  every  general  exercise  should  be  conducted 
with  reference  to  them,  and  such  topics  should  be  in- 
troduced as  they  can  understand. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  following  remarks  to  give  a 
specimen  of  the  manner  of  conducting  such  exercises, 
for  a  few  days,  with  reference  to  waking  up  mind  in  the 
school  and  also  in  the  district. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  teacher  has  promised  that 
on  the  next  day,  at  ten  minutes  past  ten  o'clock,  he 
shall  request  the  whole  school  to  give  their  attention  five 
minutes,  while  he  shall  bring  something  there  to  which 
he  shall  call  the  attention,  especially  of  the  little  ^boys 
and  girls  under  seven  years  of  age.  This  very  an- 
nouncement will  excite  an  interest  both  in  school  and 
at  home ;  and  when  the  children  come  in  the  morning, 
they  will  be  more  wakeful  than  usual  till  the  fixed  time 
arrives.  It  is  very  important  that  this  time  should  be 
fixed,  and  that  the  utmost  punctuality  should  be  ob- 
served, both  as  to  the  beginning  and  ending  of  the 
exercise  at  the  precise  time. 


122  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

The  teacher,  it  should  be  supposed,  has  not  made 
such  an  announcement  without  considering  what  he  can 
do  when  the  time  arrives.  He  should  have  a  well- 
digested  plan  of  operation,  and  one  which  he  knows 
beforehand  that  he  can  successfully  execute. 

Let  us  suppose  that  in  preparing  for  this  exercise  he 
looks  about  him  to  find  some  object  which  he  can  make 
his  text ;  and  that  he  finds  upon  his  study  table  an  ear 
of  corn.  He  thinks  carefully  what  he  can  do  with  it, 
and  then  with  a  smile  of  satisfaction  he  puts  it  in  his 
pocket  for  the  "general  exercise." 

In  the  morning  he  goes  through  the  accustomed  duties 
of  the  first  hour,  perhaps  more  cheerfully  than  usual,  be- 
cause he  finds  there  is  more  of  animation  and  wakeful- 
ness in  the  school.  At  the  precise  time,  he  gives  the 
signal  agreed  upon,  and  all  the  pupils  drop  their  studies 
and  sit  erect.  When  there  is  perfect  silence  and  strict 
attention  by  all,  he  takes  from  his  pocket  the  ear  of 
corn,  and  in  silence  holds  it  up  before  the  school.  The 
children  smile,  for  it  is  a  familiar  object;  and  they  prob- 
ably did  not  suspect  they  were  to  be  fed  with  corn. 

Teacher.  —  "Now,  children,"  addressing  himself  to 
the  youngest,  "  I  am  going  to  ask  you  only  one  question 
to-day  about  this  ear  of  corn.  If  you  can  answer  it  I 
shall  be  very  glad ;  if  the  little  boys  and  girls  upon  the 
front  seat  cannot  give  the  answer,  I  will  let  those  in 
the  next  seat  try ;  and  so  on  till  all  have  tried,  unless 
our  time  should  expire  before  the  right  answer  is  given. 
I  shall  not  be  surprised  if  none  of  you  give  the  answer 
I  am  thinking  of.  As  soon  as  I  ask  the  question,  those 
who  are  under  seven  years  old,  that  think  they  can  give 
an  answer,  may  raise  their  hand.     What  is  this  ear 

OF    CORN    FOR?" 


RIGHT  MODES   OF   TEACHING  1 23 

Several  of  the  children  raise  their  hands,  and  the 
teacher  points  to  one  after  another  in  order,  and  they 
rise  and  give  their  answers. 

Mary.  —  It  is  to  feed  the  geese  with. 

John.  —  Yes,  and  the  hens  too,  and  the  pigs. 

Sarah.  —  My  father  gives  corn  to  the  cows. 

By  this  time  the  hands  of  the  youngest  scholars  are 
all  down,  for  having  been  taken  a  little  by  surprise, 
their  knowledge  is  exhausted.  So  the  teacher  says  that 
those  between  seven  and  ten  years  of  age  may  raise 
their  hands.  Several  instantly  appear.  The  teacher 
again  indicates,  by  pointing,  those  who  may  give  the 
answer. 

Charles.  —  My  father  gives  corn  to  the  horses  when 
the  oats  are  all  gone. 

Daniel.  —  We  give  it  to  the  oxen  and  cows,  and  we 
fat  the  hogs  upon  corn. 

Laura.  —  It  is  good  to  eat.  They  shell  it  from  the 
cobs  and  send  it  to  mill,  and  it  is  ground  into  meal. 
They  make  bread  of  the  meal,  and  we  eat  it. 

This  last  pupil  has  looked  a  little  further  into  domestic 
economy  than  those  who  answered  before  her.  But  by 
this  time,  perhaps  before,  the  five  minutes  have  been 
nearly  expended,  and  yet  several  hands  are  up,  and  the 
faces  of  several  are  beaming  with  eagerness  to  tell  their 
thoughts.  Let  the  teacher  then  say,  "  We  will  have  no 
more  answers  to-day.  You  may  think  of  this  matter 
till  to-morrow,  and  then  I  will  let  you  try  again.  I  am 
sorry  to  tell  you  that  none  of  you  have  mentioned  the 
use  I  was  thinking  of,  though  I  confess  I  expected  it 
every  minute.  I  shall  not  be  surprised  if  no  one  of  you 
gives  this  answer  to-morrow.  I  shall  now  put  the  ear  of 
corn  in  my  desk,  and  no  one  of  you  must  speak  to  me 


124  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

about  it  till  to-morrow.  You  may  now  take  your 
studies." 

The  children  now  breathe  more  freely,  while  the 
older  ones  take  their  studies,  and  the  next  class  is 
called.  In  order  to  success,  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
that  the  teacher  should  positively  refuse  to  hold  any 
conversation  with  the  children  on  the  subject  till  the 
next  time  for  "  general  exercise." 

During  the  remainder  of  the  forenoon  the  teacher 
will  very  likely  observe  some  signs  of  thoughtfulness 
on  the  part  of  those  little  children  who  have  been 
habitually  dull  before.  And  perhaps  some  child,  eager 
to  impart  a  new  discovery,  will  seek  an  opportunity  to 
make  it  known  during  the  forenoon.  "Wait  till  to- 
morrow," should  be  the  teacher's  only  reply. 

Now  let  us  follow  these  children  as  they  are  dismissed 
while  they  bend  their  steps  toward  home.  They  cluster 
together  in  groups  as  they  go  down  the  hill,  and  they 
seem  to  be  earnestly  engaged  in  conversation. 

"  I  don't  believe  it  has  any  other  use,"  says  John. 

"Oh,  yes,  it  has,"  says  Susan;  "our  teacher  would 
not  say  so  if  it  had  not.  Besides,  did  you  not  see  what 
a  knowing  look  he  had,  when  he  drew  up  his  brow  and 
said  he  guessed  we  couldn't  find  it  out  ? " 

"Well,  I  mean  to  ask  my  mother,"  says  little  Mary; 
"  I  guess  she  can  tell." 

By  and  by  as  they  pass  a  field  of  corn,  Samuel  sees 
a  squirrel  running  across  the  street,  with  both  his 
cheeks  distended  with  "plunder." 

At  home,  too,  the  ear  of  corn  is  made  the  subject  of 
conversation.  "  What  is  an  ear  of  corn  for,  mother  ?  " 
says  little  Mary,  as  soon  as  they  have  taken  a  seat  at 
the  dinner  table. 


RIGHT  MODES   OF  TEACHING       f  TJNIJg^RSI 

Mother.  —  An   ear  of   corn,    child  ?   why,   donT^yoir  "^ 
know  ?     It  is  to  feed  the  fowls,  and  the  pigs,  and  the 
cattle ;  and  we  make  bread  of  it  too  — 

Mary.  —  Yes,  we  told  all  that,  but  the  teacher  says 
that  is  not  all. 

Mother.  —  The  teacher  ? 

Mary.  —  Yes,  ma'am,  the  teacher  had  an  ear  of  corn 
at  school,  and  he  asked  us  what  it  was  for ;  and  after 
we  had  told  him  everything  we  could  think  of,  he  said 
there  was  another  thing  still.  Now,  I  want  to  find  out, 
so  that  /  can  tell  him. 

The  consequence  of  this  would  be  that  the  family, 
father,  mother,  and  older  brothers  and  sisters,  would 
resolve  themselves  into  a  committee  of  the  whole  on 
the  ear  of  corn.  The  same,  or  something  like  this, 
would  be  true  in  other  families  in  the  district ;  and  by 
the  next  morning,  several  children  would  have  some- 
thing further  to  communicate  on  the  subject.  The 
hour  would  this  day  be  awaited  with  great  interest,  and 
the  first  signal  would  produce  perfect  silence. 

The  teacher  now  takes  the  ear  of  corn  from  the  desk 
and  displays  it  before  the  school ;  and  quite  a  number 
of  hands  are  instantly  raised  as  if  eager  to  be  the  first 
to  tell  what  other  use  they  have  discovered  for  it. 

The  teacher  now  says  pleasantly:  "The  use  Lam 
thinking  of,  you  have  all  observed,  I  have  no  doubt ;  it 
is  a  very  important  use  indeed ;  but  as  it  is  a  little  out 
of  the  common  course,  I  shall  not  be  surprised  if  you 
cannot  give  it.     However,  you  may  try." 

"  It  is  good  to  boil !  " 1  says  little  Susan,  almost  spring- 
ing from  the  floor  as  she  speaks. 

1  The  children  themselves  will  be  sure  to  find  some  new  answers  to 
such  questions  as  the  above.     In  giving   in  substance  this  lecture  to  a 


126  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

11  And  it  is  for  squirrels  to  eat/'  says  little  Samuel. 
"  I  saw  one  carry  away  a  whole  mouthful  yesterday 
from  the  cornfield. " 

Others  still  mention  other  uses,  which  they  have 
observed.  They  mention  other  animals  which  feed 
upon  it,  or  other  modes  of  cooking  it.  The  older 
pupils  begin  to  be  interested,  and  they  add  to  the  list 
of  uses  named.  Perhaps,  however,  none  will  name  the 
one  the  teacher  has  in  his  own  mind ;  he  should  cor- 
dially welcome  the  answer  if  perchance  it  is  given  ;  if 
none  should  give  it,  he  may  do  as  he  thinks  best  about 
giving  it  himself  on  this  occasion.  Perhaps,  if  there  is 
time  he  may  do  so,  —  after  the  following  manner. 

"  I  have  told  you  that  the  answer  I  was  seeking  was 
a  very  simple  one ;  it  is  something  you  have  all  ob- 
served, and  you  may  be  a  little  disappointed  when  I  tell 
you.  The  use  I  have  been  thinking  of  for  the  ear  of 
corn  is  this :  //  is  to  plant.  It  is  for  seed,  to  propa- 
gate that  species  of  plant  called  corn.,,  Here  the  chil- 
dren may  look  disappointed,  as  much  as  to  say,  "We 
knew  that  before." 

gathering  of  teachers  in  the  autumn  of  1845,  m  one  °f  tne  busy  villages 
of  New  York,  where  also  the  pupils  of  one  of  the  district  schools  were 
present  by  invitation,  I  had  described  a  process  similar  to  that  which  has 
been  dwelt  upon  above.  I  had  given  the  supposed  answers  for  the  first 
day,  and  had  described  the  children  as  pressing  the  question  at  home. 
When  I  had  proceeded  as  far  as  to  take  up  the  ear  of  corn  the  second 
day,  and  had  spoken  of  the  possibility  that  the  true  answer  to  the  question 
might  not  be  given,  I  turned  almost  instinctively  to  the  class  of  children 
at  my  right,  saying,  "  Now  what  is  the  ear  of  corn  for  ?  "  A  little  boy, 
some  six  years  of  age,  who  had  swallowed  every  word,  and  whose  face 
glowed  as  if  there  was  not  room  enough  for  his  soul  within  him,  bounded 
upon  his  feet,  and  forgetting  the  publicity  of  the  place  and  the  gravity  of 
the  chairman  of  the  meeting,  clapping  his  hands  forcibly  together,  "  Ifs  to 
pop  ! "  he  exclaimed  emphatically,  very  much  to  the  amusement  of  the 
audience.     His  mind  had  been  waked  up. 


RIGHT  MODES   OF   TEACHING  \2J 

The  teacher  continues :  "  And  this  is  a  very  impor- 
tant use  for  the  corn  ;  for  if  for  one  year  none  should 
be  planted,  and  all  the  ears  that  grew  the  year  before 
should  be  consumed,  we  should  have  no  more  corn. 
This,  then,  was  the  great  primary  design  of  the  corn ; 
the  other  uses  you  have  named  were  merely  secondary. 
But  I  mean  to  make  something  more  of  my  ear  of 
corn.  My  next  question  is :  Do  other  plants  have 
seeds  ? " * 

Here  is  a  new  field  of  inquiry.  Many  hands  are 
instantly  raised ;  but  as  the  five  minutes  by  this  time 
have  passed,  leave  them  to  answer  at  the  next  time. 

11  Have  other  plants  seeds  ?  "  the  children  begin  to 
inquire  in  their  own  minds,  and  each  begins  to  think 
over  a  list  of  such  plants  as  he  is  familiar  with.  When 
they  are  dismissed,  they  look  on  the  way  home  at  the 
plants  by  the  roadside,  and  when  they  reach  home, 
they  run  to  the  garden.  At  the  table  they  inquire  of 
their  parents,  or  their  brothers  and  sisters. 

At  the  next  exercise,  they  will  have  more  than  they 
can  tell  in  five  minutes  as  the  results  of  their  own  obser- 
vation and  research.  When  enough  has  been  said  by 
the  children  as  to  the  plants  which  have  seeds,  the 
next  question  may  be :  Do  all  plants  have  seeds  ? 
This  question  will  lead  to  much  inquiry  at  home  wher- 
ever botany  is  not  well  understood.  There  are  many 
who  are  not  aware  that  all  plants  have  seeds.  Very 
likely  the  ferns  (common  brakes)  will  be  noticed  by  the 
children  themselves.  They  may  also  name  several 
other  plants  which  do  not  exhibit  their  apparatus  for 
seed-bearing  very  conspicuously.  This  will  prepare  the 
way  for  the  teacher  to  impart  a  little  information.     Nor 

1  Plant  is  here  used  in  the  popular  sense. 


128  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

is  there  any  harm  in  his  doing  so,  whenever  he  is  satis- 
fied that  the  mind  has  been  suitably  exercised.  The 
mind  is  no  longer  a  "  passive  recipient  " ;  and  he  may 
be  sure  that  by  inquiry  it  has  increased  its  capacity  to 
contain,  and  any  fact  which  now  answers  inquiry,  will 
be  most  carefully  stored  up. 

The  next  question  may  be :  Do  trees  have  seeds  ? 
As  the  children  next  go  out,  their  eyes  are  directed  to 
the  trees  above  them.  The  fruit  trees,  the  walnut,  the 
oak,  and  perhaps  the  pine,  will  be  selected  as  those 
which  have  seeds.  They  will,  however,  mention  quite 
a  number  which  do  not,  or  which,  they  think,  do  not 
have  seeds.  Among  these  may  be  the  elm,  the  birch, 
and  the  Lombardy  poplar.  After  hearing  their  opin- 
ions, and  the  results  of  their  observations,  take  one  of 
their  exceptions  as  the  subject  of  the  next  question : 
Does  the  elm  have  seeds  ? 1  This  will  narrow  their  in- 
quiries down  to  a  specific  case,  and  every  elm  in  the  dis- 
trict will  be  inquired  of  as  to  its  testimony  on  this  point. 

If  the  children  can  any  of  them  collect  and  give  the 
truth  in  the  matter,  so  much  the  better ;  but  if  they, 
after  inquiring  of  their  parents  and  grandparents,  as  I 
have  known  a  whole  school  to  do,  come  back  insisting 
that  the  elm  has  no  seeds  ;  after  hearing  their  reasons 
for  their  belief,  and  perhaps  the  opinions  of  their  parents, 
you  may  promise  to  tell  them  something  about  it  at  the 
next  exercise.  This  will  again  awaken  expectation,  not 
only  among  the  children,  but  among  the  parents.  All 
will  wish  to  know  what  you  have  to  bring  out. 

Great  care  should  be  taken  not  to  throw  any  dispar- 

1  It  is  a  very  common  opinion  in  the  country  that  the  elm  has  no  seeds. 
I  once  knew  a  man  who  grew  gray  under  the  shade  of  a  large  elm,  and 
who  insisted  that  it  never  bore  any  seeds. 


RIGHT  MODES   OF  TEACHING  129 

agement  upon  the  opinions  of  parents.  Perhaps,  after 
giving  the  signal  for  attention,  you  may  proceed  as 
follows :  — 

"  Has  the  elm  tree  any  seeds  ?  Perhaps,  children,  you 
may  recollect  after  the  cold  winter  has  passed  away, 
that,  along  in  the  latter  part  of  March,  or  the  first  of 
April,  we  sometimes  have  a  warm,  sunny  day.  The 
birds,  perhaps,  appear  and  begin  to  sing  a  little,  and  as 
you  look  up  to  the  elm,  you  notice  that  its  buds  seem 
to  swell,  and  you  think  it  is  going  to  put  out  its  leaves. 
Everybody  says  we  are  going  to  have  an  early  spring. 
But  after  this  the  cold  frosty  nights  and  windy  days 
come  on  again,  and  then  you  think  the  leaves  cannot 
come  out  so  early.  Now,  if  you  observe  carefully,  the 
leaves  do  not  come  out  till  about  the  20th  of  May,  or 
perhaps  the  first  of  June.  Did  you  ever  see  anything 
like  what  I  have  described?  " 

"Yes,  sir,  we  remember  that." 

"  Well,  the  next  time  you  see  the  buds  begin  to  open, 
just  break  off  a  twig  of  a  good  large  tree,  and  you  will 
find  they  are  not  the  leaf  buds.  But  if  you  will  watch 
them  carefully  for  two  or  three  weeks,  you  will  find 
that  each  bud  will  put  out  some  beautiful  little  flowers, 
brightly  colored,  and  slightly  fragrant.  If  you  will  still 
continue  to  watch  them,  you  will  find,  as  the  flowers 
fall  off,  that  seed  vessels  are  formed,  shaped  very  much 
like  the  parsnip  seed.  These  will  grow  larger  and 
larger  every  day,  and  by  and  by  they  will  turn  brown 
and  look  as  if  they  were  ripe.  Just  about  this  time 
the  leaves  will  come  out;  and  soon  after  these  seeds, 
during  some  windy  day  or  night,  will  all  fall  off.  The 
ground  will  be  covered  with  thousands  of  them.  Per- 
haps you  have  seen  this." 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  9 


130  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

"Yes,  sir,"  says  John,  "  Grandpa  calls  that  elm  dust.u 

"  Perhaps  next  year  you  can  watch  this  and  ask  your 
parents  to  examine  it  with  you.  But  the  five  minutes 
are  ended." 

Now,  information  thus  communicated  will  never  be 
forgotten.  The  mind,  having  been  put  upon  the  stretch, 
is  no  longer  a  passive  recipient. 

The  next  question:  How  are  seeds  disseminated? 
—  (of  course  explaining  the  term  "disseminated"). 

This  will  bring  in  a  fund  of  information  from  the 
pupils.  They  will  mention  that  the  thistle  seed  flies  y 
and  so  does  the  seed  of  the  milkweed ;  that  the  burs  of 
the  burdock,  and  some  other  seeds  are  provided  with 
hooks,  by  which  they  attach  themselves  to  the  hair  of 
animals  or  the  clothing  of  men,  and.,  ride  away  to  their 
resting  place,  which  may  be  a  hundred  miles  off.  Some 
fall  into  the  water  and  sail  away  to  another  shore. 
Some,  like  the  seed  of  the  Touch-me-not,  are  thrown 
at  a  distance  by  the  bursting  of  the  elastic  pericarp; 
others,  as  nuts  and  acorns,  are  carried  by  squirrels 
and  buried  beneath  the  leaves.  These  facts  would 
mostly  be  noticed  by  children,  when  once  put  upon 
observation. 

Next  question :  Are  plants  propagated  in  any  other 
way  than  by  seeds  ? 

This  question  would  call  their  attention  to  the  various 
means  of  natural  and  artificial  propagation  —  by  layers, 
by  offsets,  by  suckers,  by  grafting,  by  inoculation  or 
budding,  etc.,  etc. 

Again :  Have  any  plants  more  ways  than  one  of 
natural  propagation  ?  Some  have  one  way  only,  —  by 
seeds,  as  the  annual  plants;  some  have  two, — by  seeds, 
and  by  roots,  as  the  potato ;  some  have  three,  —  as  the 


RIGHT  MODES   OF   TEACHING  131 

tiger  lily,  by  side  bulbs  from  the  roots,  by  stalk  bulbs, 
and  by  the  seeds.     This  can  be  extended  indefinitely. 

SECTION    V. REMARKS 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  above  has  been  given 
simply  as  a  specimen  of  what  could  easily  be  done  by 
an  ingenious  teacher,  with  as  common  a  thing  as  an  ear 
of  corn  for  the  text.  Any  other  thing  would  answer  as 
well.  A  chip,  a  tooth  or  a  bone  of  an  animal,  a  piece 
of  iron,  a  feather,  or  any  other  object,  could  be  made 
the  text  for  adroitly  bringing  in  the  uses  of  wood,  the 
food  and  habits  of  animals,  the  use  and  comparative  value 
of  metals,  the  covering  of  birds,  their  migration,  the  cov- 
ering of  animals,  etc.,  etc.  Let  the  teacher  but  think 
what  department  he  will  dwell  upon,  and  then  he  can 
easily  select  his  text ;  and  if  he  has  any  tact,  he  can  keep 
the  children  constantly  upon  inquiry  and  observation.* 

The  advantages  of  the  above  course  over  simply 
lecturing  to  them  on  certain  subjects,  that  is,  over  the 
pouring-in  process,  are  many  and  great.  Some  of  the 
most  obvious  I  will  briefly  state. 

I.  It  immediately  puts  the  minds  of  the  children  into 
a  state  of  vigorous  activity.  They  feel  that  they  are  no 
longer  passive  recipients.  They  are  incited  to  discover 
and  ascertain  for  themselves.  They  are,  therefore, 
profitably  employed  both  in  and  out  of  school,  and  as 
a  consequence  are  more  easily  governed.  A  habit  of 
observation  is  cultivated  in  them  ;  and  what  an  advan- 
tage is  this  for  a  child!  It  is  almost  unnecessary  to 
remark  that  many  people  go  through  the  world  without 
seeing  half  the  objects  which  are  brought  within  their 
reach.  It  would  be  the  same  to  them  if  their  eyes  were 
half  the  time  closed.     If  they  travel  through  a  country 


132  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

presenting  the  most  beautiful  scenery  or  the  most  inter- 
esting geological  features,  they  see  nothing.  They  grow 
up  among  all  the  wonders  of  God's  works,  amid  all  the 
displays  of  his  wisdom,  of  his  design,  to  no  purpose. 
They  study  none  of  the  plans  of  nature ;  and  by  all  the 
millions  of  arrangements  which  God  has  made,  to  de- 
light the  eye,  to  gratify  the  taste,  to  excite  the  emotions 
of  pleasure  instead  of  pain,  they  are  neither  the  happier 
nor  the  wiser.  What  a  blessing,  then,  it  is  to  a  child, 
to  put  his  mind  upon  inquiry ;  to  open  his  eyes  to  ob- 
serve what  his  Creator  intended  his  intelligent  creatures 
should  behold,  of  his  goodness,  his  wisdom,  his  power. 
And  how  far  superior  is  he  who  teaches  a  child  to  see 
for  himself  and  to  think  for  himself,  to  him  who  sees 
and  thinks  for  the  child,  and  thus  practically  invites  the 
pupil  to  close  his  own  eyes  and  grope  in  darkness  through 
the  instructive  journey  of  life. 

2.  It  is  of  great  service  to  the  parents  in  the  district  to 
have  this  waking-up  process  in  operation.  Our  children 
are  sometimes  our  best  teachers.  Parents  are  apt  to 
grow  rusty  in  their  acquirements,  and  it  is  no  doubt 
one  of  the  designs  of  providence  that  the  inquisitiveness 
of  childhood  should  preserve  them  from  sinking  into 
mental  inactivity.  Who  can  hear  the  inquiries  of  his 
own  child  after  knowledge,  without  a  desire  to  supply 
his  wants  ?  Now  it  is  right  for  the  teacher  to  use  this 
instrumentality  to  wake  up  mind  in  his  district.  Parents, 
by  the  course  I  have  recommended,  very  soon  become 
interested  in  these  daily  questions  of  the  teacher ;  and 
they  are  often  as  eager  to  know  what  is  the  next  ques- 
tion as  the  children  are  to  report  it.  This  course,  then, 
will  supply  profitable  topics  of  conversation  at  the  fire- 
side, and  very  likely  will  encourage  also  the  pursuit  of 


RIGHT  MODES   OF  TEACHING  1 33 

useful  reading.  It  will,  moreover,  soon  awaken  a  deeper 
interest  in  the  school  on  the  part  of  the  parents.  They 
will  begin  to  inquire  of  one  another  as  to  this  new 
measure  ;  and  when  they  find  by  conference  that  the 
feeling  in  this  matter  is  becoming  general,  they  will 
desire  to  visit  the  school  to  witness  this  as  well  as  the 
other  operations  of  the  teacher.  This  will  secure 
parental  cooperation,  and  thus  in  every  way  the  in- 
fluence of  the  school  will  be  heightened.  It  is  no  small 
thing  for  a  teacher  to  enlist  the  interest  of  his  patrons 
in  the  success  of  his  school;  and  this  is  the  most 
happily  done,  when  it  is  achieved  through  the  medium 
of  the  pupils  themselves. 

3.  //  wakes  up  the  teachers  own  mind.  This  is  by 
no  means  the  least  important  point  to  be  gained.  The 
teacher,  by  the  very  nature  of  his  employment,  by  daily 
confinement  in  an  unhealthy  atmosphere,  by  teaching 
over  and  over  again  that  with  which  he  is  quite  familiar, 
by  boarding  with  people  who  are  inclined  to  be  social, 
and  by  the  fatigue  and  languor  with  which  he  finds 
himself  oppressed  every  night,  is  strongly  tempted  to 
neglect  his  own  improvement.  There  are  but  few  who 
rise  above  this  accumulation  of  impediments  and  go  on 
in  spite  of  them  to  eminence  in  the  profession.  A  large 
proportion  of  all  who  teach,  rely  upon  the  attainments 
with  which  they  commence ;  and  in  the  course  of  two 
or  three  years,  finding  themselves  behind  the  age,  they 
abandon  the  employment.  This  is  very  natural.  Any 
man  who  treads  in  a  beaten  track,  like  a  horse  in  a 
mill,  must  become  weary,  however  valuable  the  product 
may  be  which  he  grinds  out.  It  is  essential  that  he 
should  keep  his  own  interest  awake  by  some  exercise 
of  his  ingenuity,  and  that  he  should  compel  himself  to 


134  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

be  industrious  by  undertaking  that  which  will  absolutely 
demand  study.  The  above  process  will  do  this;  and 
while  he  may  have  the  exquisite  pleasure  of  seeing  the 
growth  of  his  pupils'  minds,  he  may  also  have  the 
higher  satisfaction  of  feeling  the  growth  of  his  own. 

I  must  here  add,  that  it  has  not  been  my  intention, 
in  what  I  have  said,  to  inculcate  the  idea  that  the  study 
of  books  should  in  the  least  degree  be  abated  to  make 
room  for  this  process  of  waking  up  mind.  The  various 
branches  are  to  be  pursued,  and  as  diligently  pursued, 
as  ever  before.  The  time  to  be  set  apart  for  this  exer- 
cise should  be  short,  —  never  probably  to  exceed  five 
minutes.  It  is  to  come  in  when  the  scholars  need  rest 
for  a  moment,  and  when,  if  not  employed  about  this, 
they  would  probably  be  doing  nothing,  or,  perhaps, 
worse  than  nothing.  It  should  be  managed  with  care 
and  should  never  be  made  a  hobby  by  teachers,  as  if  it 
were  of  more  importance  than  anything  else.  One 
secret  of  success  in  this,  —  as,  indeed,  in  everything,  — 
is,  that  it  should  not  be  continued  too  long  at  once. 
The  pupils  should  be  left  "  longing  —  not  loathing.'' 

Let  me  again  remind  the  reader  that  I  have  given 
the  above  as  a  specimen.  The  choice  of  the  ear  of  corn 
was  merely  accidental ;  it  happened  to  lie  on  my  table 
when  I  wanted  a  text.  The  teacher  should  look  upon 
this  simply  as  a  specimen,  and  then  choose  his  own 
subjects.  The  main  point  aimed  at  is  this :  Never 
ask  leading  questions  which  your  scholars  can  hardly 
fail  to  answer ;  and  never  lecture  to  your  pupils  till  you 
have  somehow  first  kindled  in  them  a  living  desire  to 
know;  that  is,  avoid  alike  the  "  drawing-out "  and  the 
"  pouring-in  "  process.     Rather  let  it  be  your  object  to 


RIGHT  MODES    OF  TEACHING  1 35 

excite  inquiry  by  a  question  they  cannot  answer  without 
thought  and  observation,  —  and  such  a  question  as  they 
would  deem  it  disgraceful  not  to  be  able  to  answer. 
This  adroitly  done  is  "waking  up  mind" 

TOPICAL  OUTLINE 

Prefatory. 

1 .  Aptness  to  teach  :  how  acquired.    (See  also  pp.  138, 139.) 

2.  Too  little  help  and  its  effect  upon  pupils. 

3.  Too  much  help  and  the  effects. 
I.    The  Pouring-in  Process. 

1.  Describe  it. 

2.  Illustrate  it. 

3.  The  effects  of  it. 

4.  The  fundamental  law  of  education  it  violates. 
II.    The  Drawing-out  Process, 

1 .  Describe  it. 

2.  Illustrate  it. 

3.  The  effects  of  it. 

4.  How  are  these  two  processes  alike? 

III.  The  More  Excellent  Way. 

1.  The  pupil  must  be  aroused  to  self-activity  and  sturdy 

independence  in  study. 

2.  He  must  master  each  lesson  thoroughly. 

3.  Give  a  seasonable  hint,  if  the  new  lesson  or  subject  re- 

quires it. 

4.  Help  the  pupil  by  putting  him  on  the  scent  with  a  sug- 

gestive question  or  two. 

5.  Cultivate  pride  in  self-help  and  joy  in  self-discovery> 

IV.  Waking  up  Mind. 

(Specimen  exercise  upon  an  ear  of  corn.) 
I.   The  line  of  questioning. 

(1)  What  is  this  ear  of  corn  for? 

(2)  Do  other  plants  have  seeds? 

(3)  Do  all  plants  have  seeds? 

(4)  Do  trees  have  seeds? 

(5)  Does  the  elm  tree  have  seeds? 

(6)  How  are  seeds  disseminated  ? 

(7)  Are  plants  propagated  in  any  other  way? 


136  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

(8)  Have  any  plants  more  ways  than  one? 

2.  Suggest  other  subjects. 

(1)  Plan  a  set  of  questions. 

3.  State  reasons  for  such  exercises. 

4.  When  and  how  are  they  best  given? 

V.  Advantages  over  the  Lecture  Method. 

1.  Wakes  up  the  minds  of  the  pupils. 

(1)  Sets  the  pupil  to  studying  the  world  outside  of 

books. 

(2)  Reveals  unknown    tastes    and    aptitudes   in  the 

children. 

(3)  Engages  the  pupil's  interest  in  the  school. 

(4)  Cultivates  the  habit  of  observation  and  steady  self- 

tuition. 

(5)  Makes  the  pupil  a  learner  everywhere  from  every- 

thing. 

(6)  Leads  into  a  knowledge  of  nature  and  command 

of  her  laws. 

(7)  It  is  a  primary  introduction  into  the  sciences. 

(8)  Increases  the  joy  of  living. 

[Students  should  add  to  this  list  of  advantages.] 

2.  Wakes  up  the  minds  of  the  parents. 

(1)  Revives  the  curiosity  of  childhood. 

(2)  Breaks  up  mental  stagnation. 

(3)  Centers  attention  upon  the  school. 

(4)  Secures  parental  cooperation. 

(5)  Encourages  fireside  reading. 

[Add  to  this  list.] 

3.  Wakes  up  the  mind  of  the  teacher. 

(1)  Takes  him  outside  beaten  tracks. 

(2)  Relieves  his  leisure  hours  of  languor. 

(3)  It  is  a  stimulus  to  self-improvement. 

[Add  to  this  list  independently.] 
VI.    Cautions, 

1.  Such  exercises  are  to  supplement,  not  to  supplant,  book 

study. 

2.  They  need  to  be  recreative  in  order  to  be  educative. 

3.  They  need  to  leave  the  pupil  with  longing,  not  with 

loathing. 


RIGHT  MODES   OF   TEACHING  1 37 

4.  The  exercise  on  the  ear  of  corn  is  given  for  suggestion, 

not  for  imitation. 

5.  Arouse  active  inquiry  and  exhaust  the  pupil's  knowledge 

before  you  begin  to  lecture. 

SUBJECTS   FOR   DISCUSSION   OR   ESSAYS 

i.    The  Uses  and  Abuses  of  the  Lecture  Method. 
Putnam's  Manual  of  Pedagogics,  p.  197. 
Tate's  Philosophy  of  Education,  p.  273. 
Compayre's  Psychology  applied  to  Education,  Chap.  IX. 

2.  Learning  is  Self-teaching. 

Morgan's  Educational  Mosaics,  p.  229. 

Payne's  Lectures  on  Education,  pp.  105-137,  166-179. 

Compayre's  Psychology  applied  to  Education,  p.  121. 

3.  The  Art  of  Questioning. 

Socrates.    By  Wm.  F.  Phelps.  (10^.)  Phillips  and  Hunt,  N.Y. 

Compayre's  History  of  Pedagogy,  pp.  22-27. 

Gladman's  School  Method,  pp.  21-25. 

Morgan's  Educational  Mosaics,  p.  243. 

DeGraff's  Schoolroom  Guide,  p.  357. 

Morgan's  Studies  in  Pedagogy,  Chap.  XV. 

Baldwin's  School  Management,  pp.  347-350. 

Putnam's  Manual  of  Pedagogics,  pp.  191-196. 

Fitch's  Lectures  on  Teaching,  Chap.  VI. 

4.  Nature  Study  in  the  Common  Schools. 

Arnold's  Waymarks  for  Teachers,  Chap.  I. 

Johonnot's  Principles  and  Practices  of  Teaching,  Chaps.  V. 

and  IX. 
Payne's  Lectures  on  Teaching,  pp.  253-271. 

5.  The  Uses  and  Abuses  of  Books  in  Education. 

Johonnot's  Principles  and  Practices  of  Teaching,  Chap.  X. 

Montaigne's  Essay  on  Pedantism. 

Report  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen. 

Compayre's  Psychology  applied  to  Education,  p.  1 17. 

Bain's  Education  as  a  Science,  p.  305. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
CONDUCTING   RECITATIONS 

"In  every  recitation  training  for  power  should  be  the  principal 
aim  of  the  teacher."  —  Patrick. 

"  To  know  the  end  is  almost  to  know  the  way,  and  to  feel  a 
strong  impulse  to  reach  the  end  is  finally  to  find  the  way." 

—  Dr.  Payne. 

In  considering  a  teacher's  qualifications,  the  power 
of  exciting  an  interest  in  the  recitations  of  his  school 
may  not  be  overlooked.  No  man  can  be  successful  for 
any  length  of  time  without  this.  This  comprises  what 
is  usually  implied  by  aptness  to  teach.  All  men  have 
not  this  faculty  by  nature  in  an  equal  degree.  Some 
may  talk  for  an  hour  upon  an  interesting  topic  in  the 
presence  of  children  without  commanding  their  atten- 
tion ;  while  there  are  others  who  can  take  even  a  com- 
monplace subject  and  secure  for  any  length  of  time  an 
all-absorbing  interest  in  every  word.  This  difference 
is  seen  in  every  grade  of  public  speakers,  and  in  all 
descriptions  of  writers;  but  perhaps  more  strikingly 
than  anywhere  else  it  is  observable  among  teachers. 
Enter  one  school,  and  you  may  notice  that  the  scholars 
are  dull  and  listless ;  indifference  sits  undisturbed  upon 
their  brows ;  or  perhaps  they  are  driven  by  the  activity 
of  their  own  natures  to  some  expedient  to  interest  them- 
selves, while  the  teacher  is  with  very  commendable 
spirit,  laboriously  — perhaps  learnedly — explaining  some 

138 


CONDUCTING  RECITATIONS  1 39 

principle  or  fact  designed  for  their  edification.  The 
secret  is,  he  has  not  yet  learned  to  awaken  their  atten- 
tion ;  he  fails  to  excite  their  interest. 

Pass  to  another  school.  A  breathless  silence  per- 
vades the  room ;  the  countenances  of  the  children,  up- 
turned toward  the  teacher,  beam  with  delight.  As  he 
kindles  into  earnestness  and  eloquence,  they  kindle 
into  responsive  enthusiasm.  Whenever  his  eye  meets 
theirs,  he  sees  —  he  feels  the  glow  radiated  by  the  fire 
he  is  lighting  in  their  souls,  and  his  own  gathers  new 
warmth  and  enthusiasm  in  return.  Such  a  man  is  apt 
to  teach;  and  you  could  scarcely  break  the  spell  by 
which  he  holds  his  class,  "  though  you  should  give 
them  for  playthings,  shining  fragments  broken  from 
off  the  sun." 

He  who  possesses 'this  gift  naturally,  has  very  great 
advantage  as  a  teacher  to  begin  with.  The  ability  to 
tell  well  what  he  knows,  is  of  more  consequence  to 
the  teacher  than  the  greatest  attainments  without  the 
power  to  communicate  them.  Combine  high  attain- 
ments with  the  ability  to  tell,  and  you  have  the  accom- 
plished teacher. 

But  this  power  to  communicate  is  not  necessarily  a 
natural  gift ;  it  comes  not  always  by  intuition.  It  can 
be  acquired.  It  is  founded  in  philosophy  ;  and  he^vho 
can  understand  anything  of  the  workings  of  his  own 
mind,  who  can  revert  to  the  mental  processes  he  went 
through  in  order  to  comprehend  a  principle,  who  can 
go  back  to  that  state  of  mind  he  was  in  before  he  com- 
prehended it,  and  then  by  one  step  more  can  put  him- 
self in  the  place  of  the  child  he  is  teaching,  realizing 
exactly  his  perplexities  and  feeling  his  precise  wants, 
can  become  the  apt  teacher.      Those  who  fail  in  this 


140  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

are  usually  those  who  have  forgotten  the  steps  they 
took  to  acquire  their  own  knowledge,  or  perhaps  who 
never  noticed  what  steps  they  did  take. 

To  acquire  this  rare  qualification  should  be  the  con- 
stant study  of  the  teacher.  To  this  end  he  should  re- 
call, as  far  as  possible,  the  operations  of  his  own  mind 
in  childhood.  By  studying  his  own  mind,  he  learns, 
often  most  effectually,  what  he  needs  to  know  of  others. 
Whenever  he  is  preparing  to  teach  any  principle  or  fact 
to  others,  let  him  ask  himself  questions  like  the  follow- 
ing :  What  was  the  dark  point  in  this,  when  I  studied 
it  ?  Where  did  my  mind  labor  most  ?  What  point  did 
my  teacher  fail  to  explain  ?  Such  questions  will  fre- 
quently suggest  the  very  difficulty  which  perplexes 
every  mind  in  the  same  process.  Again,  the  following 
inquiries  may  be  very  useful :  In  studying  this,  what 
was  the  first  point  which  appeared  clear  to  me  ?  After 
this,  what  was  the  second  step,  and  how  did  that  follow 
the  first  ?  The  next  in  order  ?  And  the  next  ?  Was 
this  the  natural  order  ?  If  not,  what  is  the  natural  order  ? 
The  right  answers  to  these  questions  will  suggest  the 
course  to  be  pursued  in  the  instruction  of  a  class. 

The  teacher  can  scarcely  ask  a  more  important  ques- 
tion than  this :  What  is  the  natural  order  of  presenting 
a  given  subject  ?  The  ability  to  determine  this,  is  what 
constitutes  in  a  great  degree  the  science  of  teaching. 
This  inquiry  should  occupy  much  thought  because  a 
mistake  here  is  disastrous,  and  ever  will  be,  as  long  as 
divine  wisdom  is  superior  to  human.  He  who  can  as- 
certain the  order  of  nature,  will  be  most  sure  of  exciting 
an  interest  in  the  subject  he  is  endeavoring  to  teach. 

Some  further  suggestions  as  to  conducting  school 
recitations  are  contained  in  the  following  paragraphs. 


CONDUCTING  RECITATIONS  141 

I.  The  teacher  should  thoroughly  understand  what 
he  attempts  to  teach.  It  is  destructive  of  ail  life  in 
the  exercise,  if  the  teacher  is  constantly  chained  down 
to  the  text-book.  I  have  no  objection,  indeed,  that 
he  should  take  his  text-book  with  him  to  the  class,  and 
that  he  should  occasionally  refer  to  it  to  refresh  his 
own  memory,  or  to  settle  a  doubt.  But  who  does  not 
know  that  a  teacher  who  is  perfectly  familiar  with  what 
is  to  be  taught,  has  ten  times  the  vivacity  of  one  who  is 
obliged  to  follow  the  very  letter  of  the  book  ?  His  own 
enthusiasm  glows  in  his  countenance,  sparkles  in  his 
eye,  and  leaps  from  his  tongue.  He  watches  the  halt- 
ing of  the  pupil,  perceives  his  difficulty,  devises  his  ex- 
pedient for  illustrating  the  dark  point  in  some  new  way, 
and,  at  the  proper  moment,  renders  just  the  amount  of 
assistance  which  the  pupil  needs.  Not  confined  to  the 
text,  he  has  the  use  of  his  eyes  ;  and  when  he  speaks  or 
explains,  he  can  accompany  his  remark  with  a  quicken- 
ing look  of  intelligence.  In  this  way  his  class  is  en- 
livened. They  respect  him  for  his  ready  attainment, 
and  they  are  fired  with  a  desire  to  be  his  equal. 

How  different  is  it  with  a  teacher  who  knows  nothing 
of  the  subject  but  what  is  contained  in  the  text  before 
him,  and  who  knows  that  only  as  he  reads  it  during  the 
intervals  occasioned  by  the  hesitations  of  the  diss. 
Every  question  he  proposes  is  printed  at  the  bottom  of 
the  page ;  and  as  soon  as  he  reads  the  question,  without 
a  glance  at  the  pupil,  his  eye  sets  out  on  a  chase  after 
the  answer  in  the  text.  If  the  scholar  has  not  already 
been  stupefied  by  such  teaching,  and  happens  to  give 
an  intelligent  answer,  yet  not  in  the  precise  language  of 
the  book,  he  is  set  right  by  the  teacher's  reading  the 
very  words,  — just  so  much  detached  from  the  sentence, 


142  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

as  he  fancies  was  intended  to  answer  that  one  question ! 
In  this  way  he  discourages  tho'ught  in  his  pupils,  and 
sets  a  bounty  on  mechanical  study.  In  this  way,  too, 
he  congeals  whatever  of  interest  they  bring  with  them 
to  the  recitation,  and  they  sink  into  indifference,  —  or, 
following  the  instincts  of  their  nature,  they  seek  occu- 
pation in  play  or  mischief,  even  under  the  sound  of  his 
voice ! 

2.  The  teacher  should  specially  prepare  himself  for 
each  lesson  he  assigns.  This  is  naturally  suggested 
by  what  has  just  been  said.  The  teacher's  memory 
needs  to  be  refreshed.  We  all  know  how  difficult  it 
would  be  to  recite  a  lesson,  in  geometry  for  instance, 
weeks  after  studying  it.  It  is  so  in  other  things. 
Now  the  teacher  should  be  so  familiar  with  the  lesson 
which  he  proposes  to  hear  recited,  that  he  could  recite 
it  himself  as  perfectly  as  he  would  desire  his  scholars 
to  do  it.  This  is  seldom  the  case.  I  have  heard  a 
teacher,  with  the  text-book  in  his  hands,  complain  of 
the  dullness  or  inaccuracy  of  his  classes,  when,  if  the 
tables  had  been  turned,  and  the  pupils  allowed  to  ask 
the  questions,  the  teacher  would  scarcely  have  recited 
as  well.  And  I  may  add,  this  is  no  very  uncommon 
thing!  If  any  one  is  startled  at  this  assertion,  let  him 
request  a  friend,  in  whom  he  can  confide,  to  ask  him 
the  questions  of  a  particular  lesson  in  geography,  or 
history,  or  grammar.  The  teacher  should  daily  study 
his  class  lessons.  This  will  enable  him  the  better  to 
assign  his  lessons  judiciously.  In  this  daily  study,  he 
should  master  the  text-book  upon  the  subject;  and  more 
than  this,  he  should  consider  what  collateral  matter  he 
can  bring  in  to  illustrate  the  lesson.  He  should  draw 
upon  the  resources  of  his  own  mind,  —  upon  the  treas- 


CONDUCTING  RECITATIONS  1 43 

ures  of  his  commonplace  book}  —  upon  the  contents  of 
some  encyclopedia,  —  upon  any  source,  from  whence  he 
can  obtain  a  supply  of  knowledge  for  his  purpose.  This 
will  improve  his  own  mind,  and  he  will  be  encouraged, 
as  from  time  to  time  he  teaches  the  same  branch,  to  find 
that  he  is  able  to  do  better  than  ever  before,  and  that, 
instead  of  becoming  weary  with  repetition,  he  is  more 
and  more  enthusiastic  in  the  subject. 

Going  thus  to  his  class  —  so  full  of  the  subject,  that 
were  the  text-book  annihilated,  he  could  make  another 
and  better  one  —  he  will  have  no  difficulty  to  secure  at- 
tention. As  he  speaks,  his  eye  accompanies  his  word, 
and  as  his  pupils  answer,  he  sees  the  expression  of  their 
countenances ;  and  what  a  world  of  meaning  there  is  in 
this  expression !  It  betrays,  better  than  words  can  do, 
the  clearness  or  obscurity  of  the  mind's  perception, 
when  a  truth  is  presented.  How  different  the  beaming 
of  the  eye  when  the  soul  apprehends,  from  that  almost 

1  It  is  an  excellent  plan  for  every  teacher  to  keep  a  commonplace  book 
of  considerable  size,  different  portions  of  it  being  set  apart  for  the  different 
subjects  upon  which  he  is  to  give  instruction.  On  the  first  twenty  pages, 
"  Geography  "  may  be  the  head,  —  the  next  twenty  pages  may  be  set  apart 
for  "  History,"  —  twenty  more  may  be  assigned  to  "  Reading,"  —  and  a  like 
number  to  "  Arithmetic,"  "  Grammar,"  "  Spelling,"  "  Writing,"  etc.,  re- 
serving quite  a  space  for  "  Miscellaneous  Matter."  This  would  make  a  large 
book,  but  when  it  is  remembered  that  it  is  to  be  used  for  several  years,  it 
is  well  to  have  it  large  enough  to  contain  a  large  amount  of  matter.  Now, 
whenever  the  teacher  hears  a  lecture  on  a  peculiar  method  of  teaching 
either  of  these  branches,  let  him  note  the  prominent  parts  of  it  under  the 
proper  head,  and  especially  the  illustrations.  When  he  reads  or  hears  an 
anecdote  illustrating  Geography,  History,  or  Grammar,  let  it  be  copied 
under  the  proper  head.  If  it  illustrates  Geography,  let  the  name  of  the 
place  stand  at  its  head.  When  he  visits  a  school,  and  listens  to  a  new  ex- 
planation or  a  new  process,  let  him  note  it  under  its  head.  In  this  way  he 
may  collect  a  thousand  -valuable  things  to  be  used  with  judgment  in  his 
school. 


144  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

idiotic  stare  at  vacuity  when  words  are  used  without  im- 
port. And  how  necessary  it  is  that  the  teacher  should 
be  free  to  observe  the  inward  workings  of  the  soul  as 
indicated  upon  the  countenance. 

3.  The  teacher  should  be  able  to  use  our  language 
fluently  and  correctly.  In  this  many  are  deficient. 
They  hesitate  and  stammer,  and  after  all,  express 
their  ideas  in  vague  terms,  and  perhaps  by  the  use 
of  inaccurate  or  inelegant  language.  A  teacher  in 
no  way  gives  so  effectual  instruction  in  grammar  as  by 
his  own  use  of  our  language ;  and  there  can  be  no  sight 
more  mortifying  than  that  of  a  teacher  laboring  to  fix  in 
the  minds  of  his  class  some  rule  of  syntax,  when  his  own 
language  at  the  very  moment  shows  an  entire  disregard 
of  the  rule.  It  is  very  common  to  hear  teachers  talk  of 
"  sums  "  to  their  classes  in  arithmetic,  and  even  to  ask 
them  to  do  "sums"  in  subtraction  or  division!  The 
term  "question"  is  often  as  improperly  applied,  when 
no  question  is  asked.  The  teacher  should  be  accu- 
rate in  the  use  of  terms.  "  Question  "  is  sometimes 
the  proper  word ;  sometimes  "  problem,"  and  sometimes 
"exercise,"  or  "example,"  may  with  more  propriety  be 
used;  but  "sum,"  means  the  amount  of  several  num- 
bers when  added,  and  it  should  not  be  applied  as  the 
name  of  an  exercise.  Some  teachers  use  the  terms  ratio 
and  proportion1  interchangeably,  as  if  they  were  syno- 
nyms. Such  inaccuracies  in  the  teacher  will  be  sure  to 
be  reproduced  in  the  school,  and  it  is  a  great  evil  for 

1  We  are  reminded  by  this  of  the  college  student  who  was  examined 
rather  closely  by  his  tutor.  "What  is  ratio?"  inquired  the  tutor. 
"  Ratio  ?"  said  the  young  man,  "ratio  is  proportion."  "Well,  what  is 
proportion?"  "Proportion?  proportion  is  ratio."  "Well,  then,"  said 
the  tutor,  looking  perplexed,  "what  are  both  together?"  "Excuse  me," 
said  the  pupil,  "  /  can  define  but  one  at  a  time  !  " 


CONDUCTING  RECITATIONS  I45 

the  scholar  to  acquire  a  careless  habit  in  the  use  of 
terms. 

4.  He  should  have  proper  animation  himself.  Horace 
Mann  describes  some  of  the  Scotch  teachers  as  work- 
ing themselves  up  into  a  feverish  excitement  in  the 
presence  of  their  classes,  and  the  classes  in  turn 
as  literally  bounding  from  the  floor  when  they  answer 
their  hasty  questions.  Now,  while  I  think  these  Scotch 
teachers  go  quite  too  far,  I  do  think  that  many  of  our 
own  teachers  come  short  of  a  proper  standard  of  ani- 
mation. A  teacher  should  be  ready,  without  being 
rapid;  animated,  without  being  boisterous.  Children 
are  imitative  beings ;  and  it  is  astonishing  to  observe 
how  very  soon  they  catch  the  manners  of  the  teacher. 
If  he  is  heavy  and  plodding  in  his  movements,  they  will 
very  soon  be  dull  and  drowsy  in  theirs ;  then,  if  he 
speaks  in  a  sprightly  tone,  and  moves  about  with  an 
elastic  step,  they  almost  realize  a  resurrection  from  the 
dead.  If  he  appears  absent-minded,  taking  but  little 
interest  in  the  lesson  which  is  recited,  they  will  be  as 
inattentive,  at  least,  as  he;  while,  if  all  his  looks  and 
actions  indicate  that  the  subject  is  of  some  importance, 
he  will  gain  their  attention.  Nor  can  I  refrain  in  this 
place  from  suggesting  to  the  teacher  the  importance  of 
regarding  his  manners,  while  engaged  in  conducting  a 
recitation.  His  attitude  should  not  be  one  of  indolence 
or  coarseness,  —  and  when  he  moves  from  his  seat,  and 
appears  at  the  blackboard  to  illustrate  any  point,  it 
should  be  done  gracefully,  and  with  a  constant  regard 
to  the  fact,  that  every  look  and  every  motion  teaches. 

5.  He  shotild  never  proceed  without  the  attention  of 
the  class.  A  loss  of  interest  is  sure  to  follow  a 
want   of    attention.       Besides,   a   habit   of   inattention, 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING —  IO 


146  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

while  it  is  very  common,  is  also  a  great  calamity  to 
the  person  who  falls  into  it  during  life.  Many  a  ser- 
mon is  lost  upon  a  portion  of  the  audience  in  our 
churches  every  Sabbath  from  this  cause.  When  the 
attention  is  aroused,  the  impression  made  is  enduring; 
and  one  idea  then  communicated  is  worth  a  hundred  at 
any  other  time. 

6.  Avoid  a  formal  routine  in  teaching.  Children 
are  very  apt  to  imbibe  the  notion  that  they  study  in 
order  to  recite.  They  have  but  little  idea  of  any  pur- 
pose of  acquirement  beyond  recitation ;  hence  they 
study  their  text-book  as  mere  words.  The  teacher 
should,  as  soon  as  possible,  lead  them  to  study  the  sub- 
ject, using  the  book  simply  as  an  instrument.  "  Books 
are  but  helps  "  —  should  become  their  motto.  In  order 
to  bring  this  about,  the  instructor  would  do  well  occa- 
sionally to  leave  entirely  the  order  of  the  book,  and 
question  them  on  the  topic  they  have  studied.  If  they 
are  pursuing  arithmetic,  for  instance,  and  they  have 
carefully  prepared  a  definite  number  of  problems,  it 
might  be  well  to  test  their  ability  by  giving  them  at  the 
recitation  others  of  the  teacher's  own  preparing,  involv- 
ing an  application  of  what  they  have  learned  to  the 
business  of  life.  This  will  lead  them  to  study  intelli- 
gently. Besides,  as  soon  as  they  begin  to  see  how  their 
knowledge  is  to  be  useful  to  them,  they  have  a  new 
motive  to  exertion.  They  should  be  so  taught  as  to 
discover  that  grammar  will  improve  their  understanding 
and  use  of  language ;  that  writing  will  prepare  them 
for  business,  and  by  enabling  them  to  communicate 
with  their  friends,  will  add  to  their  enjoyment ;  and  so 
of  reading  and  the  other  branches. 

7.  Be  careful  to  use  language  which  is  intelligible 


CONDUCTING  RECITATIONS  147 

to  children,  whenever  an  explanation  is  given.  The 
object  of  an  explanation  is  to  elucidate,  to  make 
clearer.  How  is  this  object  accomplished  when  the 
explanation  is  less  intelligible  than  the  thing  ex- 
plained ?  Suppose  a  child  should  ask  her  teacher 
to  explain  the  cause  of  cold  in  winter  and  heat  in 
summer;  in  other  words,  the  cause  of  the  change  of 
seasons.  "  Oh,  yes,"  says  he,  pleasantly.  "The  an- 
nual revolution  of  the  earth  round  the  sun,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic,  occasions  the 
succession  of  the  four  seasons."  1  The  child  listens  to 
these  " words  of  learned  length"  and  is  astonished  at 
the  learning  of  her  teacher,  but  she  has  no  clearer  idea 
than  before  of  the  point  she  inquired  about. 

Mr.  S.  R!  Hall,  in  his  lectures,  gives  the  following 
forcible  illustration  of  the  same  point.  "Will  you 
please  to  tell  me  why  I  carry  one  for  every  ten  ?  "  said 
little  Laura  to  her  instructor.  "  Yes,  my  dear,"  said 
he,  kindly.  "  It  is  because  numbers  increase  from 
right  to  left  in  a  decimal  ratio."  Laura  sat  and  re- 
repeated  it  to  herself  two  or  three  times,  and  then 
looked  very  sad.  The  master,  as  soon  as  he  had  an- 
swered, pursued  his  other  business,  and  did  not  notice 
her.  But  she  was  disappointed.  She  understood  him 
no  better  than  if  he  had  used  words  of  another^lan- 
guage.  "  Decimal "  and  "  ratio  "  were  words  that 
might  have  fallen  on  her  ear  before,  but  if  so,  she 
understood  them  none  the  better  for  it.  She  looked 
in  the  dictionary  and  was  disappointed  again,  and  after 
some  time,  put  away  her  arithmetic.  When  asked  by 
her  teacher  why  she  did  so,  she  replied,  "  I  don't  like 
to  study  it;  I  can't  understand  it." 

1  Worcester's  Geography. 


148  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

"  Now  the  injury  to  little  Laura  was  very  great.  She 
had  commenced  the  study  with  interest ;  she  had  learned 
to  answer  a  great  many  questions  in  arithmetic,  and  had 
been  pleased.  She  was  now  using  a  slate  and  writing 
her  figures  on  it,  and  had  found  the  direction  to  carry 
one  for  every  ten.  This  she  might  have  been  made  to 
understand.  The  master  loved  his  scholars  and  wished 
to  benefit  them,  but  forgot  that  terms  perfectly  plain  to 
him  would  be  unintelligible  to  the  child.  From  that 
moment  Laura  disliked  arithmetic,  and  every  effort 
that  could  be  used  with  her  could  not  efface  the  im- 
pression that  it  was  a  hard  study,  and  she  could  not 
understand  it." 

While  upon  this  subject,  I  might  urge  that  teachers 
should  not  resort  to  evasion  when  they  are  not  able  to 
explain.  It  is  a  much  more  honorable,  and  far  more 
satisfactory  course,  for  the  teacher  frankly  to  confess 
his  inability  to  explain,  than  to  indulge  in  some  ridicu- 
lous mysticism  to  keep  up  the  show  of  knowledge.  I 
may  never  forget  the  passage  I  first  made  through  the 
Rule  of  Three,  and  the  manner  in  which  my  manifold 
perplexities  respecting  "direct  and  inverse"  propor- 
tion were  solved.  "  Sir,"  said  I,  after  puzzling  a  long 
time  over  '  more  requiring  more  and  less  requiring  less ' 
—  "  will  you  tell  me  why  I  sometimes  multiply  the  sec- 
ond and  third  terms  together  and  divide  by  the  first  — 
and  at  other  times  multiply  the  first  and  second,  and 
divide  by  the  third  ?  "  "  Why,  because  more  requires 
more  sometimes,  and  sometimes  it  requires  less  —  to  be 
sure.  Haven't  you  read  the  rule,  my  boy?"  "Yes, 
sir,  I  can  repeat  the  rule,  but  I  don't  understand  it." 
"  Why,  it  is  because  '  more  requires  more  and  less  re- 
quires less  ' ! "     "  But  why,  sir,  do  I  multiply  as  the  rule 


CONDUCTING  RECITATIONS  1 49 

says  ?  "  "  Why,  because  '  more  requires  more  and  less 
requires  less*  —  see,  the  rule  says  so."  "I  know  the 
rule  says  so,  but  I  wished  to  understand  why."  "Why  ? 
why?"  looking  at  me  as  if  idiotcy  itself  trembled  be- 
fore him  —  u  why  ?  —  why,  because  the  rule  says  so  ; 
don  t you  see  it?  —  More  requires  more  and  less  requires 
less  !  "  —  and  in  the  midst  of  this  inexplicable  combina- 
tion of  more  and  less,  I  shrunk  away  to  my  seat  blindly 
to  follow  the  rule  because  it  said  so.  Such  teaching  as 
this  is  enough  to  stultify  the  most  inquiring  mind  ;  and 
it  is  to  secure  the  blessing  of  relief  from  such  influence 
to  the  children  of  any  particular  district,  that  we  come 
to  consider  an  occasional  change  of  teachers  a  miti- 
gated evil. 

8.  Require  prompt  and  accurate  recitation.  I  know 
of  nothing  that  will  abate  the  interest  of  a  class  sooner 
than  dull  and  dragging  recitations.  The  temptation 
in  such  cases  is  very  strong  for  the  teacher  to  help 
the  class  by  the  "  drawing-out  process "  before  de- 
scribed. This,  however,  only  makes  the  matter  worse. 
The  dull  recitation  calls  for  the  teacher's  aid ;  and  his 
aid  reproduces  the  dull  recitation.  The  only  way  is  to 
stop  at  once,  and  refuse  to  proceed  till  the  recitation 
can  go  alone.  It  is  just  as  easy  to  have  good  lessons  as 
poor ;  and  the  teacher  should  have  the  energy  to  iifsist 
upon  them.  Mark  the  countenances  of  a  class  as  they 
go  to  their  seats  after  a  good  recitation.  They  feel 
that  they  have  done  something,  and  they  look  as  if 
they  valued  the  teacher's  approbation  and  their  own 
so  highly,  that  they  will  learn  the  next  lesson  still 
better. 

It  is,  moreover,  a  great  saving  of  time  to  have  the 
lessons  promptly  recited.     This  saving  will  afford  the 


150  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

opportunity  to  introduce  those  additional  illustrations  I 
have  before  suggested,  in  order  to  excite  a  still  deeper 
interest.  It  may  sometimes,  though  not  always,  be 
well  to  make  a  prompt  and  perfect  recitation  the  condi- 
tion of  introducing  the  additional  matter. 

9.  Rely  not  too  much  upon  simultaneous  recitation. 
This  has  become  quite  too  fashionable  of  late.  It 
had  its  origin  in  the  large  schools  established  some 
years  since,  known  as  the  Lancasterian  schools,  and 
perhaps  was  well  enough  adapted  to  schools  kept  upon 
that  plan  in  large  cities.  But  when  this  mode  of 
reciting  is  adopted  in  our  district  and  country  schools, 
where  the  circumstances  of  large  numbers  and  extreme 
backwardness  are  wanting,  it  is  entirely  uncalled  for, 
and,  like  other  city  fashions  transferred  to  the  country, 
is  really  out  of  place. 

Seriously,  I  look  upon  this  as  one  of  the  prominent 
faults  in  many  of  our  schools.  It  destroys  all  inde- 
pendence in  the  pupil  by  taking  away  his  individuality. 
He  moves  with  the  phalanx.  Learning  to  rely  on 
others,  he  becomes  superficial  in  his  lessons.  He  is 
tempted  to  indolence  by  a  knowledge  that  his  defi- 
ciencies will  not  stand  out  by  themselves;  and  he 
comforts  himself  after  a  miserable  recitation  with  the 
consoling  reflection  that  he  has  been  able  to  conceal 
his  want  of  thoroughness  from  his  teacher. 

It  may  sometimes  be  useful.  A  few  questions  thus 
answered  may  serve  to  give  animation  to  a  class  when 
their  interest  begins  to  flag ;  but  that  which  may  serve 
as  a  stimulant  must  not  be  relied  on  for  nutrition.  As 
an  example  of  its  usefulness,  I  have  known  a  rapid 
reader  tamed  into  due  moderation  by  being  put  in 
companionship  with    others  of   slower  speech,   just  as 


CONDUCTING  RECITATIONS  151 

we  tame  a  friskful  colt  by  harnessing  him  into  a  team 
of  grave  old  horses.  But.  aside  from  such  definite  pur- 
pose, I  have  seen  no  good  come  of  this  innovation.  I 
am  satisfied  its  prevalence  is  an  evil,  and  worthy  of 
the  careful  consideration  of  teachers. 

By  the  foregoing  means  and  others  which  will  sug- 
gest themselves  to  the  thoughtful  teacher's  mind,  he 
can  arouse  the  interest  of  his  classes  so  that  study  will 
be  more  attractive  than  play.  For  this  object  every 
teacher  should  labor.  It  is  of  course  impossible  to 
give  specific  rules  to  meet  every  case ;  it  is  not  desira- 
ble to  do  it.  The  teacher,  put  upon  the  track,  will 
easily  devise  his  own  expedients ;  and  his  own,  be  it 
remembered,  will  usually  be  found  the  best  for  him. 

As  a  motive  for  every  teacher  to  study  carefully 
the  art  of  teaching  well  at  the  recitation,  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  then  and  there  he  comes  before 
his  pupils  in  a  peculiar  and  prominent  manner ;  it  is 
there  his  mind  comes  specially  in  contact  with  theirs, 
and  there  that  he  lays  in  them,  for  good  or  for  evil, 
the  foundations  of  their  mental  habits.  It  is  at  the 
recitation,  in  a  peculiar  manner,  that  he  makes  his 
mark  upon  their  minds;  and  as- the  seal  upon  the 
wax,  so  his  mental  character  upon  theirs  leaves-^its 
impress  behind ! 

TOPICAL   QUIZ 

I.   Interest  an  indispensable  condition. 

A  recitation  must  be  interesting  in  order  to  be  educative. 
It  may  be  interesting  without  being  educative ;  stimu- 
lating without  being  nutritious. 

1.  Describe  the  interesting  and  the  uninteresting  teacher. 

2.  How  can  the  power  to  interest  be  acquired? 


152  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

II.    How  can  the  lesson  be  made  interesting? 

i.   The  teacher  must  thoroughly  understand  what  he  at- 
tempts to  teach, 
(i)  Why? 

2.  The  teacher  should  specially  prepare  himself  for  each 

lesson  he  assigns. 

(i)  Why?     (2)  How? 

3.  The  teacher's  language  should  be  fluent  and  accurate. 

(1)  Why?  (2)  Illustrate  the  common  inaccuracies 
of  teachers. 

4.  He  should  have  proper  animation. 

(1)  Why?     Page's  standard  of  proper  animation ? 

5 .  He  should  never  proceed  without  the  attention  of  the  class. 

(1)  Why?     State  some  of  the  effects  of  attention. 

6.  Avoid  formal  routine  in  teaching. 

(1)  What  is  meant  by  formal  routine?  Illustrate. 
(2)  Why  avoid  it?     (3)  How? 

7.  Use  intelligible  language. 

(1)  Illustrate  the  common  use  of  unintelligible  lan- 
guage. (2)  Effects  upon  pupils  ?  (3)  What 
is  best,  when  the  teacher  cannot  answer  the 
pupil's  question? 

8.  Require  prompt  and  accurate  recitation. 

(1)  Why?     (2)  How? 

9.  Do  not  rely  too  much  upon  simultaneous  recitations. 

(1)  What  is  meant  by  simultaneous  recitations? 
Illustrate.  (2)  Why  avoid  such  recitations  as 
a  rule?  (3)  When  are  they  useful?  (4)  What 
was  the  Lancasterian  method?  Compayre's 
History  of  Pedagogy,  pp.  514-518. 

10.  Specific  rules  not  desirable.     Why? 

1 1 .  How  is  the  recitation  especially  the  teacher's  opportunity  ? 

FORMS   OF  THE   RECITATION 

I .    Testing. 

1.  In  order  to  ascertain  the  pupil's  deficiencies  of  effort, 

ability,  and  knowledge. 

2.  In  order  to  stimulate  him  to  renewed  industry. 

3.  In  order  to  ascertain  what  needs  to  be  taught. 


CONDUCTING  RECITATIONS  1 53 

II.    Teaching. 

i.    Presenting  the  new  idea  —  the  unmastered  difficulty. 

2.  Relating  it  in  every  possible  way  to  what  the  pupil  already 

knows. 

3.  Rounding  up  his  ideas,  ordering  them  into  completeness. 

4.  All  by  questions  that  lead  the  pupil  into  progressive  self- 

discovery  or  verification  of  the  truth ;  or  so,  as  far  as 
may  be  possible. 

III.  Telling. 

1 .  What  is  purely  arbitrary ;  as  new  terms,  forms,  or  pro- 

cesses. 

2.  What  he  wants  to  know  and  cannot  find  out  for  himself. 

3.  What  will  arouse  interest  and  stimulate  him  to  further 

effort. 

IV.  Drilling. 

1 .  Transforming  knowledge  into  habit,  learning  into  power 
and  skill,  by  repeated  expression  of  what  has  been 
learned. 

V.  Reviewing. 

1 .  In  order  to  organize  the  pupil's  knowledge  of  facts,  forms, 

processes,  principles,  rules,  etc. ;  that  is,  to  render  his 
knowledge  scientific. 

2.  In  order  to  test  any  weak  points  in  the  teaching  or  the 

learning. 

QUIZ    UPON   TOPICS 

i .  The  forms  of  the  recitation  ? 

2.  Is  the  order  in  which  they  are  stated  a  necessary  one? 

3.  Why  test  at  the  start  ?  / 

4.  State  the  steps  in  teaching. 

5.  State  the  essential  idea  in  teaching.     The  main  agency. 

6.  Is  there  a   difference   between  teaching   and   telling?     If  so, 

state  it. 

7.  What  is  it  legitimate  to  tell?    When  may  the  teacher  begin  to 

lecture  ? 

8.  What  is  drilling?     Why  is  it  so  important? 

9.  State  the  main  purpose  in  reviews. 

10.  State  a  necessary  quality  of  good  reviews. 

11.  The  use  of  reviews  to  the  teacher ? 


154  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE    OE   TEACHING 

SUBJECTS   FOR  DISCUSSION   OR   ESSAYS 

i.    The  recitation. 

The  Recitation,  by  J.  N.  Patrick,  St.  Louis. 

DeGrafFs  Schoolroom  Guide,  pp.  338-371. 

Howland's  Practical  Hints  to  Teachers,  Chap.  VIII. 

An  Introduction  to  Herbart's  Science  and  Practice  of  Educa- 
tion (Felkin),  pp    105-118. 

Baldwin's  Art  of  School  Management,  Part  VI. 
2.    Interest. 

An  Introduction  to  Herbarfs  Science  and  Practice  of  Educa- 
tion (Felkin),  pp.  90-102. 

Putnam's  Manual  of  Pedagogics,  Chap.  X. 


CHAPTER   IX 

EXCITING   INTEREST   IN   STUDY 

Interest  is  for  the  mind  what  appetite  is  for  the  body.  Like 
appetite,  interest  indicates  a  need  for  food  and  the  power  to  assimi- 
late it.  Loss  of  interest,  like  loss  of  appetite,  indicates  unhealth. 
Both  are  unnatural.  The  teacher  that  cannot  interest  pupils  in 
their  school  duties  fails  at  the  very  start. 

It  is  ever  an  interesting  question  to  the  teacher, 
and  one  which  he  should  consider  with  great  care  — 
"  How  can  I  excite  an  interest  among  my  pupils  in 
their  studies  ?  "  The  intelligent  teacher  feels  that  this 
is  the  great  question ;  for  he  foresees  that,  if  he  fails 
here,  his  difficulty  in  governing  his  school  will  be  very 
much  increased.  He  therefore  turns  his  attention  with 
deep  solicitude  to  the  motives  he  may  present,  and  the 
methods  he  may  employ  to  awaken  and  keep  alive  the 
interest  of  the  school. 

If  he  has  reflected  at  all  upon  the  subject,  he  has 
already  arrived  at  the  conviction  that  it  is  necessary 
for  the  good  of  all  concerned  that  the  interest  awak- 
ened should  be  an  abiding  one ;  that  it  should  not  only 
not  abate  during  the  term  of  school,  but  continue  — 
nay,  grow  stronger  and  stronger  —  even  after  school 
days  have  passed  away.  There  is  probably  no  greater 
mistake  in  education  than  that  of  raising  in  school  an 
artificial  excitement,  which  may  aid  perhaps  in  secur- 
ing better  recitations,  but  which  will  do  nothing  toward 

*55 


156  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF   TEACHING 

putting  the  mind  into  such  a  state  that  it  will  press  on 
in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  ever  after  the  living  teacher 
has  closed  his  labors. 

The  higher  principles  of  our  nature,  being  aroused 
with  difficulty,  are  too  apt  to  be  neglected  by  the 
teacher,  and  thus  they  remain  in  their  original  feeble- 
ness; while  he  contents  himself  with  appealing  to  our 
lower  characteristics,  —  thus  doing  a  lasting  injury  by 
unduly  cultivating  and  strengthening  them,  at  the  same 
time  that  he  awakens  after  all  but  a  temporary  interest. 

In  view  of  the  importance  of  the* subject,  and  the 
difficulty  of  judging  aright  upon  it,  I  shall  make  no 
apology  for  devoting  a  few  pages  to  the  considera- 
tion of 

SECTION   I.  —  INCENTIVES   TO    STUDY  —  EMULATION 

The  teacher  will  find  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  in 
the  mind  of  every  child,  the  principle  of  Emulation. 
It  is  a  question  very  much  debated  of  late,  What  shall 
he  do  with  it?  Much  has  been  said  and  written  on 
this  question,  and  the  ablest  minds,  both  of  past  ages 
and  the  present,  have  given  us  their  conclusions  re- 
specting it ;  and  it  often  increases  the  perplexity  of  the 
young  teacher  to  find  the  widest  difference  of  opinion 
on  this  subject  among  men  upon  whom  in  other  things 
he  would  confidingly  rely  for  guidance.  Why,  asks  he, 
why  is  this?  Is  there  no  such  thing  as  truth  in  this 
matter  ?  or  have  these  men  misunderstood  each  other  ? 
When  they  have  written  with  so  much  ability  and  so 
much  earnestness,  —  some  zealously  recommending  em- 
ulation as  a  safe  and  desirable  principle  to  be  encour- 
aged in  the  young,  and  others  as  warmly  denouncing 
it  as  altogether  unworthy  and    improper,  —  have  they 


EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY  1 57 

been  thinking  of  the  same  thing?  Thus  perplexed 
with  conflicting  opinions,  he  is  thrown  back  upon  his 
own  reflection  for  a  decision ;  or  what  is  more  com- 
mon, he  endeavors  to  find  the  truth  by  experimenting 
upon  his  pupils.  He  tries  one  course  for  one  term, 
and  a  different  one  the  next ;  repeats  both  during  the 
third,  and  still  finds  himself  unsettled  as  he  commences 
the  fourth.  Meantime  some  of  his  experiments  have 
wrought  out  a  lasting  injury  upon  the  minds  of  his 
pupils ;  for,  if  every  teacher  must  settle  every  doubt 
by  new  experiments  upon  his  classes,  the  progress  that 
is  made  in  the  science  and  art  of  teaching  must  be  at 
the  untold  expense  of  each  new  set  of  children;  —  just 
as  if  the  young  doctor  could  take  nothing  as  settled  by 
the  experience  of  his  predecessors,  but  must  try  over 
again  for  himself  the  effect  of  all  the  various  medical 
agents,  in  order  to  decide  whether  arsenic  does  cor- 
rode the  stomach  and  produce  death,  —  whether  can- 
tharides  can  be  best  applied  inwardly  or  outwardly,  — 
whether  mercury  is  most  salutary  when  administered 
in  ounces  or  grains,  or  whether  repletion  or  abstinence 
is  preferable  in  a  fever !  When  such  is  the  course  of 
a  young  practitioner  in  a  community,  who  does  not 
confidently  expect  the  churchyard  soon  to  become  the 
most  populous  district,  and  the  sexton  to  be  the  mt)st 
thrifty  personage  in  the  village,  unless  indeed  he  too 
should  become  the  subject  of  experiment? 

But  is  there  not  a  good  sense  and  a  bad  sense,  asso- 
ciated with  the  term  Emulation  ;  —  and  have  not  these 
eager  disputants  fallen  into  the  same  error,  in  this 
matter,  that  the  two  knights  committed,  when  they 
immolated  each  other  in  a  contest  about  the  question 
whether  a  shield  was  gold  or  silver,  when  each  had 


158  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

seen  but  one  side  of  it  ?  I  incline  to  the  opinion  that 
this  is  the  case,  —  and  that  those  who  wax  so  warm  in 
this  contest,  would  do  well  to  give  us  at  the  outset  a 
careful  definition  of  the  term  Emulation,  as  they  in- 
tend to  use  it.  This  would  perhaps  save  themselves  a 
great  deal  of  toil,  and  their  readers  a  great  deal  of 
perplexity. 

Now  it  seems  to  me  the  truth  on  this  question  lies 
within  a  nutshell.  1.  If  emulation  means  a  desire  for 
improvement,  progress,  growth,  —  an  ardent  wish  to  rise 
above  one's  present  condition  or  attainments,  —  or  even 
an  aspiration  to  attain  to  eminence  in  the  school  or  in 
the  world,  it  is  a  laudable  motive.  This  is  self-emula- 
tion. It  presses  the  individual  on  to  surpass  himself. 
It  compares  his  present  condition  with  what  he  would 
be  —  with  what  he  ought  to  be  ;  and  "  forgetting  those 
things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those 
which  are  before,  he  presses  towards  the  mark  for 
the  prize.,,  "  An  ardor  kindled  by  the  praiseworthy 
examples  of  others,  inciting  to  imitate  them,  or  to  equal, 
or  even  excel  them,  without  the  desire  of  depressing 
them,,,  x  is  the  sense  in  which  the  apostle  uses  the  term 
[Romans  xi.  14]  when  he  says  :  "  If  by  any  means  I 
may  provoke  to  emulation  them  which  are  my  flesh,  and 
might  save  some  of  them."  If  this  be  the  meaning  of 
emulation,  it  is  every  way  a  worthy  principle  to  be  ap- 
pealed to  in  school.  This  principle  exists  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent  in  the  mind  of  every  child,  and  may  very 
safely  be  strengthened  by  being  called  by  the  teacher 
into  lively  exercise ;  provided  always,  that  the  eminence 
is  sought  from  a  desire  to  be  useful,  and  not  from  a 
desire  of  self-glorification. 

1  Dr.  Webster. 


EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY  1 59 

2.  But  if  emulation,  on  the  other  hand,  means  a  desire 
of,  surpassing  others  for  the  sake  of  surpassing  them  ; 
if  it  be  a  disposition  that  will-  cause  an  individual  to  be 
as  well  satisfied  with  the  highest  place,  whether  he  has 
risen  above  his  fellows  by  his  intrinsic  welldoing,  or 
they  have  fallen  below  him  by  their  neglect ;  if  it  puts 
him  in  such  a  relation  to  others  that  their  failures  will 
be  as  gratifying  to  him  as  his  own  success ;  if  it  be  a 
principle  that  prompts  the  secret  wish  in  the  child  that 
others  may  miss  their  lessons,  in  order  to  give  him  an 
opportunity  to  gain  applause  by  a  contrast  with  their 
abasement,  —  then,  without  doubt  it  is  an  unworthy  and 
unholy  principle,  and  should  never  be  encouraged  or 
appealed  to  by  the  teacher.  It  has  no  similitude  to 
that  spirit  which  prompts  a  man  to  "  love  his  neighbor 
as  himself."  It  has  none  of  that  generosity  which 
rejoices  in  the  success  of  others.  Carried  out  in  after 
life,  it  becomes  ambition,  such  as  fired  the  breast  of  a 
Napoleon,  who  sought  a  throne  for  himself,  though  he 
waded  through  the  blood  of  millions  to  obtain  it. 

It  is  to  this  principle  that  the  apostle,  before  quoted, 
alludes,  when  he  classes  emulation  with  the  "  works  of 
the  flesh,"  which  are  these :  "  adultery,  fornication, 
uncleanness,  lasciviousness,  idolatry,  witchcraft,  hatred, 
variance,  Emulation,  wrath,  strife,  seditions,  etc.,  —  of 
the  which  things,  I  tell  you  before,  as  I  have  told  you 
in  times  past,  that  they  which  do  such  things  shall  not 
inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."  It  is  of  this  principle 
that  the  commentator,  Scott,  remarks  :  "  This  thirst  for 
human  applause  has  caused  more  horrible  violations  of 
the  law  of  love,  and  done  more  to  desolate  the  earth, 
than  even  the  grossest  sensuality  ever  did." 

Thus  emulation   is   a   term   which   indicates  a  very 


l6o  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

good  or  a  very  bad  thing,  according  to  the  definition 
we  give  it.  In  one  view  of  it,  the  warmest  aspirings 
to  rise  are  consistent  with-  a  generous  wish  that  others 
may  rise  also.  It  is  even  compatible  with  a  heartfelt 
satisfaction  in  its  possessor  at  the  progress  of  others, 
though  they  should  outstrip  him  in  his  upward  course. 
It  is  the  spirit  which  actuates  all  true  Christians,  as 
they  wend  their  way  heavenward,  rejoicing  the  more 
as  they  find  the  way  is  thronged  with  those  who  hope 
to  gain  an  immortal  crown. 

In  the  other  view  of  it,  we  see  men  actuated  by  self- 
ishness mingled  with  pride,  inquiring,  in  the  spirit  of 
those  mentioned  in  Scripture,  "  Who  among  us  shall  be 
the  greatest  ?  "  We  everywhere  see  men  violating  these 
sacred  injunctions  of  divine  wisdom :  "  Let  no  man 
seek  his  own,  but  every  man  another's  wealth/'  "  Let 
nothing  be  done  through  strife  or  vainglory ;  but  in 
lowliness  of  mind,  let  each  esteem  other  better  than 
themselves."  —  "  In  honor  preferring  one  another." 

If  such  be  the  true  pictures  of  emulation,  in  both  the 
good  and  the  bad  sense,  certainly  teachers  cannot  hesi- 
tate a  moment  as  to  their  duty.  They  may  appeal  to 
the  principle  first  described,  —  cultivate  and  strengthen 
it ;  and  in  so  doing,  they  may  be  sure  they  are  doing 
a  good  work.  But  unless  they  intend  to  violate  the 
teachings  of  common  sense,  and  the  higher  teachings 
of  Christianity,  /  know  not  how  they  can  appeal  to  the 
principle  of  emulation  as  defined  in  the  second  case. 

But  it  may  be  urged  that  the  teacher  will  find  emula- 
tion, even  in  this  latter  sense,  existing  in  human  nature ; 
that  he  cannot  get  rid  of  it  if  he  will ;  that  it  will  be 
one  of  the  most  active  principles  to  which  he  can  resort 


EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY  l6l 

in  arousing  the  mind  to  exertion ;  and,  furthermore, 
that  it  has  been  appealed  to  by  many  of  the  most 
eminent  teachers  time  out  of  mind. 

To  this  it  is  replied,  that  it  is  not  disputed  that  chil- 
dren are  selfish;  and  that  this  selfishness  may  indeed 
be  made  a  powerful  instrumentality  in  urging  them 
forward  to  the  attainment  of  a  temporary  end.  But 
does  the  existence  of  selfishness  prove  that  it  needs 
cultivation  in  the  human  character  ?  And  will  the  end, 
when  attained,  justify  the  means?  Is  the  end,  what- 
ever it  may  be,  if  attained  at  such  a  cost,  a  blessing  to 
be  desired?  Will  not  the  heart  suffer  more  than  the 
head  will  gain  ? 

It  may  be  further  urged,  that  the  child  will  find  the 
world  full  of  this  principle  when  he  leaves  the  school ; 
and  why,  it  is  asked,  should  he  at  school  be  thrown  into 
an  unnatural  position  ?  I  answer  that  evil  is  not  to  be 
overcome  by  making  evil  more  prevalent,  —  and  though 
there  may  be  too  much  of  self-seeking  in  the  world, 
that  is  the  very  reason  why  the  teacher  should  not 
encourage  its  growth.  The  more  true  Christianity 
prevails  in  the  world,  the  less  there  will  be  of  that 
spirit  which  rejoices  at  another's  halting;  hence  I  am 
convinced  the  teacher  should  do  nothing  to  make  that 
spirit  more  prevalent. 

Nor  is  it  essential  to  the  progress  of  the  pupil  even 
temporarily,  since  there -are  other  and  worthier  princi- 
ples which  can  be  as  successfully  called  into  action. 
If  we  look  carefully  at  the  expediency  of  thus  stimu- 
lating the  mind,  we  find  that  after  the  first  trial  of 
strength,  many  become  disheartened  and  fall  behind  in 
despair.  It  will  soon  be  obvious,  in  a  class  of  twenty, 
who  are  the  few  that  will  be  likely  to  surpass  all  others ; 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  II 


1 62       .   THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

and  therefore  all  the  others,  as  a  matter  of  course,  fall 
back  into  envy,  perhaps  into  hopeless  indifference. 
Who  has  not  seen  this  in  a  class  in  spelling,  for  instance, 
where  the  strife  was  for  the  "head"  of  the  class,  but 
where  all  but  two  or  three  were  quite  as  well  satisfied 
with  being  at  the  "foot"  ?  It  does  not  then  accomplish 
the  purpose  for  which  it  is  employed ;  and  since  those 
who  are  aroused  by  it  are  even  more  injured  than  those 
who  are  indifferent,  their  undesirable  qualities  being 
thus  strengthened,  the  opinion  is  entertained  that  those 
teachers  are  the  most  wise,  who  bend  their  ingenuity 
to  find  some  other  means  to  awaken  the  minds  of  the 
children  under  their  charge. 

From  what  has  been  said,  then,  emulation  is  to  be 
recognized  or  repudiated  among  the  incentives  of  the 
schoolroom,  according  to  the  signification  we  assign  to 
the  term. 

SECTION   II. — PRIZES 

It  has  for  a  long  time  been  the  custom  of  teachers  to 
offer  some  prize  as  an  incentive  to  exertion  in  school ; 
a  prize  of  some  pecuniary  value,  a  book,  or  a  medal. 
In  some  places  beneficent  individuals  have  bestowed  by 
legacy  the  means  to  purchase  annually  the  prizes  thus 
to  be  used.  Every  young  teacher  is  called  upon,  there- 
fore, to  inquire  whether  such  an  incentive  is  a  proper 
one  to  be  employed  in  the  schoolroom.  If  there  is  any 
good  to  be  expected  from  such  an  incentive,  will  it 
counterbalance  the  evils  that  spring  from  the  practice? 
Will  the  good  of  the  whole  school  be  promoted  by  such 
a  measure,  —  and  will  this  be  a  permanent  or  a  temporary 
good  ?  These  are  questions  which  press  for  an  honest 
answer;    and   the    faithful  teacher   should   not   shrink 


EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY  1 63 

from  a  careful  investigation  of  the  whole  matter ;  and 
if-  he  finds  good  reason  to  differ  from  time-honored 
authority,  he  should  abide  by  the  truth  rather  than  by 
prescriptive  usage. 

In  my  own  case,  I  may  be  allowed  to  say,  my  mind 
was  early  turned  to  this  point;  though,  I  confess,  with 
a  strong  bias  in  favor  of  the  use  of  prizes.  Pretty 
thoroughly  for  a  series  of  years  did  I  test  their  efficacy, 
but  with  a  growing  conviction  that  the  prize  was  not 
the  proper  instrumentality  to  create  a  healthy  interest  in 
the  school.  This  conviction  acquired  additional  strength 
by  three  or  four  years'  trial  of  other  incentives;  and  it 
was  fully  confirmed  afterwards  by  a  trial  made  for  the 
purpose  of  testing  again  the  efficacy  of  a  prize,  at  an 
age  when  I  could  more  carefully  watch  the  workings  of 
the  human  mind,  and  better  appreciate  the  benefits  or 
evils  resulting  from  such  a  measure.  I  am  now  free  to 
say  that  I  am  satisfied  that  prizes  offered  to  a  school  in 
such  a  way  that  all  may  compete  for  them,  and  only  two 
or  three  obtain  them,  will  always  be  productive  of  evil 
consequences y  far  overbalancing  any  temporary  or  partial 
good  that  may  arise  from  them,  and  therefore  they  ought 
not  to  be  used  as  incitements  in  our  schools} 

Having  expressed  an  opinion  so  decidedly  upo>a 
measure  which  claims  among  its  friends  and  advocates 
some  of  the  best  minds  in  the  country,  I  shall  be 
expected  to  assign  some  reasons  for  the  faith  I  enter- 
tain.    From  this  I  shall  not  shrink.     I  proceed  there- 

1  It  may  be  well  to  remind  the  reader  that  I  have  used  the  term  prizes 
here  in  contradistinction  from  a  system  of  rewards,  by  which  the  teacher 
proposes  to  give  some  token  of  his  regard  to  every  one  who  does  well,  — 
and  the  more  brilliant  success  of  a  few  does  not  necessarily  preclude  others 
from  participating  in  the  favor  according  to  their  merit.  Of  such  a  system 
of  rewards  I  shall  have  something  to  say  presently. 


164  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

fore  to  express  such  objections  to  the  use  of  prizes,  as 
have  been  suggested  to  my  mind  by  my  own  experience, 
and  confirmed  by  the  experience  and  observation  of 
others  in  whom  I  have  great  confidence. 

I.  The  offer  of  a  prize  gives  undue' prominence  to  a 
comparatively  unworthy  object.  It  practically  teaches 
the  child  to  undervalue  the  higher  reward  of  a  good 
conscience,  and  a  love  of  learning  for  its  own  sake. 
The  dazzling  medal  is  placed  in  the  foreground  of  his 
field  of  vision ;  and  it  is  very  likely  to  eclipse  those  less 
showy  but  more  abiding  rewards  found  in  a  sense  of 
duty  and  a  desire  to  be  qualified  for  usefulness.  In 
studying  his  lesson  he  thinks  of  the  prize.  He  studies 
that  he  may  merely  recite  well;  for  it  is  a  good  recita- 
tion that  wins  the  prize.  He  thinks  not  of  duty,  or  of 
future  usefulness ;  the  prize  outshines  all  other  objects. 

II.  The  pursuit  of  a  prize  engenders  a  spirit  of 
rivalry  among  the  pupils.  Rivalry  in  pursuit  of  an 
object  which  only  one  can  attain,  and  which  all  others 
must  lose,  must  end  in  exultation  on  the  part  of  the 
winner,  and  disappointment  and  envy  on  the  part  of 
the  losers.  It  may  be  said,  this  ought  not  to  be  so;  but 
seldom  can  it  be  said  that  it  is  not  so.  Such  is  human 
nature,  and  such  it  ever  will  be.  Unpleasant  feelings 
—  sometimes  concealed,  to  be  sure  —  but  generally  ex- 
pressed in  unequivocal  terms  —  grow  out  of  the  award 
of  almost  every  school  prize,  and  sometimes  continue 
to  exert  their  baleful  influence  through  life.  Now  as 
long  as  human  nature  brings  forth  unlovely  traits  almost 
spontaneously,  such  direct  efforts  to  cultivate  them 
surely  are  not  called  for.  It  is  the  part  of  wisdom, 
then,  to  omit  such  culture  and  avoid  such  results, 
especially  when  safer  means  are  so  accessible. 


EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY  165 

III.  The  hope  of  gaining  the  prize  stimulates  only  the 
few,  while  the  many  become  indifferent.  This  is  ad- 
mitted to  be  true  even  by  the  advocates  of  the  prize 
system.  Let  a  prize  be  offered  in  any  class  as  a 
reward  for  the  best  scholarship,  and  in  a  very  few  days 
it  becomes  perfectly  obvious  to  all  who  the  two  or  three 
are  that  will  be  likely  to  outstrip  all  the  others.  These 
two  or  three  will  be  stimulated  to  exertion;  but  the 
strife  is  left  entirely  to  them.  All  others,  despairing  of 
success,  resolve  at  once  to  "let  their  moderation  be 
known  to  all  men  ";  and  since  the  prize  has  been  made 
so  prominent  an  object,  they  cannot  be  expected  now  to 
look  at  anything  above  and  beyond  it.  Feeling  that 
they  are  not  likely  to  participate  in  the  honors  of  the 
class,  they  have  but  little  disposition  to  share  in  its  toils. 

This  to  be  sure  is  not  always  so.  There  are  some 
who,  ceasing  to  strive  for  the  prize,  toil  for  the  more 
substantial  blessing  —  a  good  education,  —  and  in  the 
end  come  out  the  best  scholars.  This  is  the  way  in- 
deed most  of  our  strong  men  are  made ;  for  it  has  long 
been  remarked  that  the  prize  scholars  in  our  schools, 
and  even  in  our  colleges,  do  not  usually  become  the 
most  distinguished  men.  On  the  other  hand,  many  of 
them  are  never  heard  of  after  receiving  their  honors. 
But,  though  some  of  the  slower  scholars  do  thu^  hit 
upon  the  true  path  to  eminence,  it  is  not  to  be  set  to 
the  credit  of  the  system ;  they  rise  in  spite  of  the  system 
rather  than  by  virtue  of  it,  while  the  ultimate  failure 
of  the  prize  scholars  is  usually  directly  attributable  to 
the  defect  of  the  system ;  for  having  been  unduly  stim- 
ulated to  study  solely  with  reference  to  recitation,  and 
not  with  regard  to  future  usefulness,  their  memories 
have  been  developed  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  other 


l66  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

faculties  of  their  minds;  and,  though  they  may  have 
been  very  good  reciters,  they  have  no  power  to  become 
independent  thinkers.  Under  different  training  they 
might  have  become  strong  men. 

But  to  look  no  further  than  the  school,  the  remark 
holds  true  in  general,  that  prizes  stimulate  the  few,  and 
the  many  become  indifferent  not  only  to  prizes,  but  to 
other  and  better  motives.  That  system  of  incentives 
only  can  be  approved  which  reaches  and  influences  suc- 
cessfully all  the  mind  subjected  to  its  operation. 

Nor  is  this  an  unimportant  consideration.  It  is  not 
sufficient  praise  for  a  teacher  that  he  has  a  few  good 
scholars  in  his  school.  Almost  any  teacher  can  call  out 
the  talent  of  the  active  scholars  and  make  them  brilliant 
reciters.  The  highest  merit,  however,  lies  in  reaching 
all  the  pupils,  the  dull  as  well  as  the  active,  and  in  mak- 
ing the  most  of  them,  or  rather  in  leading  them  to  make 
the  most  of  themselves.  It  should  be  remembered 
of  every  child,  that  the  present  is  his  only  opportunity  of 
being  a  child,  and  of  receiving  the  training  appropriate 
to  childhood ;  and  that  teacher  who  rests  satisfied  with 
a  system  that  does  not  reach  the  many,  while  he  amuses 
himself  and  his  visitors  with  the  precocity  of  a  few  of 
his  most  active  scholars,  is  recreant  to  his  responsible 
trust. 

IV.  There  is  much  difficulty  in  awarding  the  prize  so 
as  to  do  strict  justice  to  all.  So  many  things  are  to  be 
taken  into  the  account  in  order  to  determine  the  excel- 
lence of  a  performance  compared  with  others,  that  some 
particulars  are  very  likely  to  be  overlooked.  Those  who 
are  called  'to  judge  of  the  results  often  disagree  among 
themselves.  The  following  anecdote  will  illustrate  this. 
Three  literary  gentlemen  were  appointed  to  select  the 


EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY  1 67 

best  from  several  compositions  presented  by  a  class, 
who  had  written  them  in  competition  for  a  gold  medal. 
Each  of  the  gentlemen  carefully  read  the  whole  number 
in  private,  and  conscientiously  selected  the  best  accord- 
ing to  his  judgment.  When  they  came  together  to  com- 
pare results,  it  was  found  that  each  man  had  selected 
the  best,  but  that  no  two  had  selected  the  same !  They 
carefully  read  and  compared  the  three,  and  still  each 
insisted  that  his  original  choice  was  the  best.  After 
much  debate  and  considerable  delay,  one  of  the  parties 
being  obliged  to  go  to  his  business,  relieved  himself  from 
a  painful  detention,  and  his  friends  from  a  perplexing 
doubt,  by  saying  he  believed  the  composition  he  had  se- 
lected was  the  best,  but,  as  he  could  not  stop  to  claim 
its  rights,  he  would  yield  them  in  favor  of  the  second  best 
in  the  hands  of  one  of  his  associates.  This  ended  the 
dispute,  and  the  action  in  favor  of  the  successful  one 
was  declared  to  be  unanimous  ! 

This  only  proves  how  difficult  it  is  to  decide ;  and  in 
the  case  just  cited,  it  might  well  be  asked,  why  should 
one  of  these  competitors  be  held  up  to  the  multitude  to 
be  applauded  and  admired,  and  the  others  sent  back  to 
their  classes  covered  with  the  shame  of  a  failure  ?  What 
principle  of  justice  sanctioned  this  decision  ? 

Nor  is  this  a  solitary  instance.  It  rarely  happens^that 
the  case  is  perfectly  clear.  There  is  usually  much  per- 
plexity about  it ;  and  hence  one  reason  why  the  decision 
seldom  satisfies  the  friends  of  the  parties  either  in  the 
school  or  at  home.  But  other  considerations  besides  the 
intrinsic  merits  of  the  performance  are  to  be  taken  into 
account  in  awarding  a  prize ;  as, 

I.  A  difference  in  the  external  facilities  which  the  com- 
petitors enjoy  for  getting  the  lessons.     One  pupil  may  be 


1 68  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

the  son  of  poverty,  and  be  compelled  to  labor  during  all 
the  hours  out  of  school ;  another  may  be  in  easy  circum- 
stances, and  have  nothing  to  prevent  giving  undivided 
attention  to  study  during  the  whole  day.  One  may  be 
the  child  of  parents  who  have  no  power  to  render  as- 
sistance by  way  of  explaining  a  difficult  point ;  while 
the  other  may  have  all  his  doubts  removed  at  once  by 
parental  aid.  One  may  never  even  be  encouraged  by 
a  kind  word  at  home;  another  is  constantly  urged  to 
effort,  and  perhaps  not  allowed  to  be  idle.  One  may 
have  access  to  no  books  but  his  school  manuals  ;  the 
other  may  have  at  his  command  a  large  library.  This 
difference  in  circumstances  should  be  taken  into  the  ac- 
count ;  but  it  never  can  be  fully  understood  by  those 
who  are  called  to  decide. 

2.  The  improper  means  tvhich  may  have  been  employed 
to  secure  the  prize.  Ambition  when  aroused  is  not  al- 
ways scrupulous  of  its  means.  One  competitor  may  be 
high-minded;  ipay  enter  the  arena  determined  to  suc- 
ceed by  an  honorable  strife ;  may  resolve  to  succeed  by 
his  own  exertions,  or  to  fail  rather  than  bring  in  any- 
thing which  is  not  the  fruit  of  his  own  study.  Another, 
regardless  of  honor  or  principle,  resolves  only  to  succeed, 
whatever  it  may  cost ;  hesitates  not  to  copy  from  others 
if  possible,  or  to  apply  to  a  brother  in  college  or  some 
friend  in  the  High  School  to  furnish  the  difficult  solu- 
tion, prepared  to  order.  One  young  lady  spends  days 
and  nights  in  arranging  the  glowing  thoughts  for  her 
composition,  determined  if  industry,  study,  good  taste, 
and  a  careful  application  of  the  rules  of  rhetoric  can 
effect  anything,  that  her  production  shall  be  zvorthy  of 
a  prize.  Another,  in  no  way  distinguished  for  scholar- 
ship, industry,  or  honor,  writes  a  careless  letter  to  a 


JNIVERS 
EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY 


iiFQ? 


married  sister  in  a  distant  city,  invoking  her  aid.  In  due 
time  the  mail  brings  an  elegant  essay.  It  is  copied  with 
sufficient  accuracy  to  be  read,  and  at  the  examination 
takes  the  prize  !  The  fair  "authoress  "  stands  forth  and 
is  flattered  before  the  multitude,  —  is  perhaps  made  to 
believe  that  she  is  worthy  of  praise  ;  she  grasps  the 
golden  bauble,  and,  covered  with  the  blushes  of  modesty, 
receives  the  congratulations  and  caresses  of  friends,  and 
is  afterwards  reputed  a  good  scholar.  Her  competitors 
meantime  become  convinced  that  effort  cannot  rival 
genius  ;  they  are  mortified  to  think  they  have  presumed 
to  enter  the  arena  with  native  talent,  and  become  dis- 
heartened as  to  any  future  attempt. 

Now  where  is  the  justice  in  all  this  proceeding  ?  Yet 
this  is  not  fiction ;  it  is  history !  If  such  abuses  — 
abuses  that  might  well  make  an  angel  weep,  revealing, 
as  they  do,  that  woman's  heart  can  be  thus  sold  to  de- 
ception —  are  the  accompaniments  of  a  prize  system, 
may  we  not  well  doubt  the  utility  of  that  system  ? 

Yet  who  can  know  either  the  different  facilities  en- 
joyed' by  the  competitors,  or  the  want  of  principle  in 
some  of  them  ?  Who  can  enter  the  secret  chambers  of 
the  mind  or  the  heart,  and  estimate  with  any  accuracy 
the  just  amount  of  merit  in  any  action  ?  This  is  God's 
prerogative,  while  "man  looketh  only  on  the  outward 
appearance."  My  inference  then  is :  A  system  ean 
hardly  be  safe  which  is  so  uncertain. 

V.  The  prize  rewards  success,  not  effort  ;  talent, 
not  worth.  Every  one  knows  that  in  estimating  the 
value  and  virtue  of  an  action,  the  motive  which  prompted 
it,  and  the  effort  it  necessarily  cost,  should  be  taken  into 
the  account.  Every  one  knows,  too,  that  success  in  study 
is  by  no  means  a  criterion  by  which  to  judge  of  the 


170  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

merits  of  the  scholar.  Some  learn  their  lessons  with 
great  facility  and  with  but  little  effort;  others  study 
long  and  patiently  without  any  brilliant  results.  One 
competitor  for  a  prize  may  bring  results  which  have 
cost  him  midnight  toil  and  the  most  unremitting  per- 
severance; another  with  brighter  parts,  and  with  but 
little  labor,  is  able  to  surpass  him,  and  takes  the  medal. 
Now  the  former  deserves  in  a  far  higher  degree  the 
encouragement  of  the  reward;  yet  it  is  given  to  him 
who  has  the  talent  but  who  lacks  the  industry.  The 
rule  of  Scripture  which  announces  that  "  to  whom  much 
is  given,  of  him  shall  much  be  required"  is  violated,  and 
he  is  rewarded  for  producing  but  little  more  than  the 
one  to  whom  little  is  given. 

It  is  often  urged  by  those  who  advocate  a  system  of 
prizes  and  rewards,  that  God  rewards  ;  and  therefore  it 
is  at  least  justifiable  that  we  should  imitate  his  example. 
I  admit  that  God,  in  his  government,  does  reward ;  but 
he  rewards  effort  rather  than  success  ;  he  "  looketh  upon 
the  heart "  as  man  cannot  do,  and  rewards  worth,  not 
talent.  We  might,  indeed,  imitate  his  example,*  if  we 
had  less  frailty,  and  were  not  so  liable  to  be  imposed 
upon  by  the  outward  appearance.  God  indeed  rewards 
men;  but  he  estimates  the  secret  intention,  seeing  the 
inward  springs  of  thought  before  they  find  expression 
in  words  or  actions.  He  regards  the  motive,  and  holds 
out  for  the  encouragement  of  the  humblest  child  of 
earth,  who  does  the  best  he  can,  as  rich  a  crown  of 
glory,  as  he  does  for  those  whose  outward  circum- 
stances, in  the  eyes  of  mortals,  are  more  auspicious. 
When  man  can  as  wisely  and  as  righteously  bestow  his 
prizes  and  rewards,  there  will  be  far  less  objection  to 
their  use. 


EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY  1^1 

VI.  The  pupil  who  studies  for  a  prize  as  his  chief 
motive,  will  seldom  continue  to  study  when  the  prize  is 
withdrawn.  This  is  so  obvious  as  scarcely  to  need 
illustration.  If  it  be  necessary  to  add  anything  to  the 
mere  statement  of  the  fact,  an  appeal  to  almost  uni- 
versal experience  would  confirm  it.  A  teacher  who  has 
depended  upon  prizes  in  a  school,  finds  it  very  difficult 
to  awaken  an  interest  there  when  he  withdraws  the 
prize.  Hence  many  have,  on  trying  the  experiment  of 
abandoning  the  prize  system,  become  discouraged,  and 
have  returned  again  to  the  use  of  prizes,  believing  them 
essential  to  their  success.  Thus  the  very  argument 
which  shows  most  clearly  their  pernicious  tendency,  is 
made  a  reason  for  continuing  them.  As  before  hinted, 
the  prize  scholars  in  our  academies,  and  even  our  col- 
leges, are  seldom  distinguished  men  in  after  life,  —  a 
fact  that  speaks  conclusively  on  this  point.  But  it  can 
scarcely  be  necessary  to  spend  words  to  prove  a  truth 
almost  self-evident. 

VII.  By  the  prize  system,  the  influence  of  the  good  ex- 
ample of  some  of  the  best  pupils  is  lost  upon  the  school. 
All  who  have  taught  know  how  important  this  influence 
is  to  the  success  of  the  school.  It  tells  with  resistless 
power  upon  the  other  scholars,  wherever  it  exists,  unless 
some  unworthy  motive  can  be  assigned  for  it.  But 
under  the  prize  system,  let  a  teacher  appeal  to  the 
example  of  his  best  scholars,  and  the  reply  is,  "  Oh, 
yes,  he  behaves  well,  or  he  studies  diligently,  but  he 
is  trying  to  get  the  prize."  With  this  understanding, 
his  example  becomes  powerless,  unless,  indeed,  there 
may  be  a  disposition  to  be  unlike  him  in  everything. 
It  is  believed  this  is  a  consideration  of  considerable 
importance. 


1?2         THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

I  have  thus  assigned,  at  some  length,  the  reasons 
why  I  should  discountenance,  among  the  incentives  of 
the  school,  the  use  of  prizes. 

As  to  the  use  of  Rewards,  when  they  are  made  so 
numerous  that  every  one  who  is  really  deserving  may 
receive  one,  —  and  when  the  basis  of  their  distribution 
is  not  talent,  not  success  merely,  but  good  intention 
and  praiseworthy  effort,  —  I  have  much  less  to  say. 
As  expressions  of  the  teacher's  interest  in  the  children, 
and  of  his  approval  of  their  welldoing,  they  may  serve 
a  good  end.  Perhaps  there  is  no  very  strong  objec- 
tion to  them  in  principle;  though  if  the  teacher  sub- 
jects himself  to  the  necessary  outlay  in  the  purchase 
of  them,  it  may  easily  become  very  burdensome  to 
him. 

I  may  add,  however,  that  /  do  not  think  rewards  are 
necessary  to  the  teacher's  success.  I  should  prefer  to  do 
without  them. 

It  is  possible  to  produce  such  a  feeling  in  the  school- 
room that  the  approving  conscience  of  the  child  and  the 
commendatory  smile  of  the  teacher  shall  be  the  richest 
of  all  rewards.  These  come  without  money  and  with- 
out price,  and  may  always  be  freely  and  safely  bestowed, 
wherever  there  is  a  good  intention  exhibited  by  the 
child.  That  is  the  most  healthy  state  of  things  where 
these  are  most  prized. 

As  children  whose  parents  begin  early  to  hire  them 
to  do  their  duty  are  seldom  ready  afterwards  to  render 
their  cheerful  service  as  an  act  of  filial  obligation,  when- 
ever the  pay  is  withheld,  —  so  children  at  school,  who 
have  been  accustomed  to  expect  a  reward,  seldom  pur- 
sue their  studies  as  cheerfully  when  that  expectation 
is  cut  off. 


EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY  1 73 

SECTION   III.  —  PROPER    INCENTIVES 

In  what  has  already  been  said,  it  has  been  more  than 
hinted  that  there  are  higher  attributes  than  emulation, 
which  the  teacher  should  address,  and  which,  if  he  is 
successful  in  calling  them  into  exercise,  will  be  quite 
sufficient  to  insure  the  proper  application  of  his  pupils 
to  their  studies.  They  have  the  merit,  moreover,  of 
being  safe.  They  do  not  unduly  stimulate  the  intel- 
lectual, at  the  expense  of  the  moral  faculties.  Their 
very  exercise  constitutes  a  healthy  growth  of  the  moral 
nature.     Some  of  these  I  may  briefly  allude  to. 

I.    A    DESIRE     TO     GAIN     THE    APPROBATION     OF     THEIR 

parents  and  teacher.  —  The  love  of  approbation  is  as 
universal  in  the  human  mind  as  emulation.  Not  one 
in  a  thousand  can  be  found  who  does  not  possess  it. 
Within  proper  limits,  it  is  a  desirable  trait  in  human 
character.  It  is,  to  be  sure,  one  of  the  selfish  propen- 
sities; but  among  them  all,  it  is  the  most  innocent. 
Carried  to  an  extreme,  it  would  lead  its  possessor  to 
crave  the  good  opinion  of  the  bad  as  well  as  of  the 
good,  and  to  become  an  obsequious  seeker  after  popu- 
larity. This,  of  course,  is  to  be  deprecated.  But  there 
can  be  no  danger  of  this  extreme,  as  long  as  the  appro- 
bation of  parents  and  teachers  is  the  object  aimed  at. 
It  implies  in  the  child  a  respect  for  the  opinions,  and  a 
confidence  in  the  justice  of  his  parents  and  teachers ; 
and  hence  it  implies  in  him  a  generous  desire  to  please, 
as  a  condition  of  being  commended  by  them. 

In  this  sense,  the  love  of  approbation  may  be  ap- 
pealed to  by  the  teacher.  He  perhaps  need  not  fre- 
quently use  the  language  of  praise.  It  will  generally 
be   sufficient,  if  the  smile  of  approval  beams  forth  in 


174  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

his  countenance.  If  he  is  judicious  as  well  as  just, 
this  boon  soon  becomes  a  precious  one  to  the  child. 
It  is  a  reward,  moreover,  which 

"is  twice  blest; 
It  blesseth  him  who  gives  and  him  who  takes." 

II.  A  desire  of  advancement. — This  is  emulation 
in  its  good  sense.  It  leads  the  child,  as  before  re- 
marked, to  compare  his  present  standing  and  attain- 
ments with  what  they  should  be,  and  to  desire  to 
surpass  himself.  This  is  ever  commendable.  Man 
was  made  for  progress ;  and  it  is  no  unworthy  aspira- 
tion, when  this  desire  fires  the  youthful  breast.  The 
teacher,  then,  may  appeal  to  this  desire,  may  kindle  it 
into  a  flame  even,  with  safety,  —  because  it  is  a  flame 
that  warms  without  consuming  that  on  which  it  feeds. 

III.  A  desire  to  be  useful. — The  good  teacher 
should  never  fail  to  impress  upon  the  child  that  the 
object  of  his  being  placed  on  earth  was  that  he  might 
be  of  some  use  to  the  world  by  which  he  is  surrounded. 
"  No  man  liveth  to  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  to  him- 
self." He  can  be  thus  useful  by  storing  the  mind  with 
knowledge  and  the  heart  with  right  affections.  He 
may  be  reminded  of  the  connection  between  his  pres- 
ent studies  and  the  pursuits  of  life  to  which  they  may 
be  applied.  Some  judicious  hint  at  the  future  appli- 
cation of  any  branch  is  always  a  good  preparation  of 
the  mind  to  pursue  it.  If  there  is  a  definite  object  in 
view,  there  will  always  be  more  alacrity  in  the  labor 
of  study ;  and  this  may  be  made  to  influence  the  young 
pupil  as  well  as  the  more  advanced.  It  is  no  small 
thing  for  the  child  if  he  can  be  early  made  to  feel  that 
he  is  living  to  some  purpose. 

IV.  A  desire  to  do  right.  —  This,  in  other  words, 


EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY  1 75 

is  a  disposition  to  obey  conscience  by  conforming  to 
the  will  of  God.  This  indeed  is  the  highest  and  holiest 
of  all  the  motives  to  human  action.  In  its  fullest  sense 
it  constitutes  the  fundamental  principle  of  a  religious 
character.  The  teacher  should  most  assiduously  cul- 
tivate in  the  child  a  regard  for  this  principle.  God 
has  implanted  the  conscience  in  every  child  of  earth, 
that  it  should  early  be  made  use  of  to  regulate  the 
conduct.  That  teacher  is  either  grossly  ignorant  or 
madly  perverse,  who  disregards  the  conscience,  while 
he  appeals  alone  to  the  selfishness  of  the  young,  and 
thus  practically  teaches  that  moral  obligation  is  a  nul- 
lity ;  that  the  law  of  God  —  so  beautifully  expounded 
by  the  Savior  —  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind,,,  and  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself  " 
—  is  of  little  consequence ;  and  that  the  injunction  of  the 
apostle  —  "  Whether  ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye 
do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God,",  is  as  good  as  obsolete. 
In  early  childhood  the  conscience  is  most  active.  It 
needs,  to  be  sure,  at  that  period  to  be  enlightened ;  but 
if  the  teachings  of  Revelation  are  made  plain  to  the 
child,  he  seldom  disregards  them.  The  teacher  has  at 
this  period  very  much  to  do,  as  I  have  before  said  in 
the  chapter  on  Responsibility  of  Teachers ;  and  he  can- 
not neglect  his  duty  without  the  most  aggravated  cul- 
pability. The  point  I  urge  here,  is,  that  he  should  use 
these  motives  as  incentives  to  study.  The  child  can  be 
made  to  feel  that  he  owes  the  most  diligent  efforts  for 
improvement  to  his  teacher,  who  daily  labors  for  his 
improvement ;  to  his  parents,  who  have  kindly  supplied 
his  wants,  and  have  provided  the  means  for  his  culti- 
vation ;  to  society,  whose  privileges  he  may  enjoy,  and 


176  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

to  which  he  is  bound  to  make  a  return  by  becoming  an 
intelligent  and  useful  member  of  it;  to  himself,  as  a 
rational  and  immortal  being,  capable  of  unbounded  en- 
joyment or  untold  misery,  just  in  proportion  as  he  pre- 
pares himself  for  either ;  and  above  all  to  his  Creator, 
by  whose  bounty  he  lives,  surrounded  with  friends  and 
blessed  with  opportunities,  which  are  denied  to  millions 
of  his  fellow-beings,  —  by  whose  gracious  providence 
he  has  been  endowed  with  faculties  and  capabilities 
making  him  but  little  lower  than  the  angels,  and  which 
he  is  bound  to  cultivate  for  usefulness  and  for  heaven, 
—  by  whose  mercy  he  has  been  supplied,  as  millions 
have  not,  with  the  word  of  God,  to  guide  his  mind  to 
things  above,  and  with  the  influences  of  Christian  so- 
ciety, to  cheer  him  in  his  path  to  heaven  ;  —  above  all, 
I  repeat,  should  the  child  be  taught  to  feel  that  he  owes 
to  God  his  best  efforts  to  make  the  most  of  all  his 
powers  for  time  and  eternity.  If  this  can  be  done 
(and  I  believe  to  a  great  extent  it  can  be  done),  there 
will  be  no  need  of  a  resort  to  those  questionable  incen- 
tives found  in  exciting  children  to  outstrip  their  fellows 
by  prizes  and  rewards  ;  while  in  this  very  process  the 
foundation  of  a  good  moral  training  will  be  laid,  without 
which  the  perfect  structure  of  a  noble  character  can 
never  be  reared  in  later  life. 

To  the  motives  already  alluded  to,  if  it  be  necessary 
to  add  another,  I  would  urge, 

V.  The  pleasure  of  acquisition.  —  This  is  often 
underrated  by  teachers.  Our  Creator  has  not  more 
universally  bestowed  a  natural  appetite  for  the  food 
which  is  necessary  for  the  growth  of  the  body,  than  he 
has  a  mental  longing  for  the  food  of  the  mind ;  and  as 
he  has  superadded  a  sensation  of  pleasure  to  the  neces- 


EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY  1 77 

sary  act  of  eating,  so  he  has  made  it  a  law  of  the  mind 
to-experience  its  highest  delight  while  in  the  act  of  re- 
ceiving the  mental  aliment.  Whoever  has  observed 
childhood  with  an  attentive  eye,  must  have  been  im- 
pressed with  the  wisdom  of  God  in  this  arrangement. 
How  much  the  child  acquires  within  the  first  three 
years  of  its  birth  !  He  learns  a  difficult  language  with 
more  precision  than  a  well-educated  adult  foreigner 
could  learn  it  in  the  same  time ;  yet  language  is  not  his 
only  or  his  chief  study.  During  these  same  three  years, 
he  makes  surprising  advances  in  general  knowledge. 
He  seeks  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  all  the  physical 
objects  by  which  he  is  surrounded.  The  size,  form, 
color,  weight,  temperature,  and  use  of  each  are  investi- 
gated by  the  test  of  his  own  senses,  or  ascertained  by 
innumerable  inquiries.  His  ideas  of  height  and  dis- 
tance, of  light  and  heat,  of  motion  and  velocity,  of  cause 
and  effect,  are  all  well  defined.  He  has  made  no  mean 
attainments  in  morals.  He  comprehends  the  law  of 
right  and  wrong  so  that  his  decisions  may  well  put  to 
the  blush  his  superiors  in  age ;  and  unless  grossly 
neglected,  he  has  learned  the  duty  of  obedience  to 
parents  and  reverence  toward  God.  Now  all  this 
amazing  progress  has  been  made,  because  of  the  irre- 
pressible curiosity  with  which  God  has  endowed  him, 
and  the  unspeakable  delight  he  experiences  in  acquiring 
the  knowledge  which  gratifies  it. 

All  must  have  noticed  the  delight  with  which  the 
child  grasps  a  new  idea  ;  but  a  few  have  been  able  so 
eloquently  to  describe  it,  as  it  is  done  by  Mr.  Mann. 
"Mark  a  child,"  says  he,  "when  a  clear,  well-defined, 
vivid  conception  seizes  it.  The  whole  nervous  tissue 
vibrates.       Every   muscle    leaps.       Every   joint    plays. 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  12 


178  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

The  face  becomes  auroral.  The  spirit  flashes  through 
the  body  like  lightning  through  a  cloud. 

"Observe,  too,  the  blind,  the  deaf,  and  the  dumb. 
So  strong  is  their  inborn  desire  for  knowledge,  —  such 
are  the  amazing  attractive  forces  of  their  minds  for  it, 
that  although  the  natural  inlets,  the  eye  and  the  ear,  are 
closed,  yet  they  will  draw  it  inward,  through  the  solid 
walls  and  encasements  of  the  body.  If  the  eye  be  cur- 
tained with  darkness,  it  will  enter  through  the  ear.  If 
the  ear  be  closed  in  silence,  it  will  ascend  along  the 
nerves  of  touch.  Every  new  idea  that  enters  into  the 
presence  of  the  sovereign  mind,  carries  offerings  of 
delight  with  it,  to  make  its  coming  welcome.  Indeed, 
our  Maker  created  us  in  blank  ignorance,  for  the  very 
purpose  of  giving  us  the  boundless,  endless  pleasure  of 
learning  new  things.,, 

It  is,  of  course,  not  to  be  expected  that  the  same 
degree  of  pleasure  will  attend  the  learner  in  every 
acquisition  as  the  novelty  diminishes,  and  as  he  ad- 
vances in  age.  The  bodily  appetite  is  less  keen  in  after 
life  than  in  childhood,  so  that  the  adult  may  never  real- 
ize again  to  the  full  extent  the  delicious  flavors  which 
regaled  him  in  his  earliest  years.  Still  there  will  ever 
be  a  delight  in  acquisition ;  and  to  carry  our  illustration 
a  little  further,  —  as  the  child  is  soonest  cloyed  whose 
stomach  is  surfeited  with  dainties,  and  stimulated  with 
condiments,  and  pampered  with  sweetmeats,  till  his  taste 
has  lost  its  acumen,  and  digestion  becomes  a  burden  ; 
so  the  mental  appetite  is  soonest  destroyed,  when,  under 
the  unskillful  teacher,  it  is  overloaded  with  what  it  can 
neither  digest  nor  disgorge.  The  mind  may  be  sur- 
feited ;  and  then  no  wonder  if  it  loathes  even  the  whole- 
some aliment.     Artificial   stimulants,  in  the    shape    of 


EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY  1 79 

prizes,  and  honors,  and  flattery,  and  fear,  and  shame, 
may  have  impaired  its  functions,  so  that  it  ceases  to  act 
except  under  their  excitement.  But  all  must  see  that 
these  are  unnatural  conditions,  superinduced  by  erro- 
neous treatment.  There  is  still  a  delight  in  acquisition, 
just  as  soon  as  the  faculties  are  aroused  to  the  effort ; 
and  the  skillful  teacher  will  strive  to  wake  up  the  mind 
to  find  this  delight,  —  and  if  he  understands  his  work, 
he  will  scarcely  need  a  stronger  incentive.  If  he  under- 
stands the  secret  of  giving  just  so  much  instruction  as 
to  excite  the  learner's  curiosity,  and  then  to  leave  him  to 
discover  and  acquire  for  himself,  he  will  have  no  neces- 
sity to  use  any  other  means  as  stimulants  to  exertion. 

To  this  might  be  added  that  irrepressible  curiosity, 
that  all-pervading  desire  to  know,  which  is  found  in  the 
mind  of  every  child.  The  mind,  as  if  conscious  of  its 
high  destiny,  instinctively  spreads  its  unfledged  wings 
in  pursuit  of  knowledge.  This,  with  some  children,  is 
an  all-sufficient  stimulant  to  the  most  vigorous  exertion. 
To  this  the  teacher  may  safely  appeal.  Indeed,  it  is  a 
convincing  proof  of  the  wisdom  as  well  as  the  goodness 
of  God,  that  this  desire  to  know,  as  well  as  the  delight 
of  acq?iisition,  are  the  most  active  at  that  early  period 
of  childhood,  when  a  just  appreciation  of  tHe  utility  of 
knowledge,  and  the  higher  motives  already  detailed, 
could  scarcely  find  a  lodgment  in  the  tender  mind.  It 
seems  to  be,  therefore,  an  indisputable  dictate  of  our 
very  nature,  that  both  these  principles  should  be  early 
employed  as  incentives. 

If,  then,  the  desire  of  the  approval  of  parents  and 
teachers,  —  the  desire  of  advancement,  —  the  desire  to  be 
useful, —  and  the  desire  to  do  right,  can  be  superadded 
to  the  natural  love  in  the  child  for  acquisition,  and  a 


180  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

natural  desire  to  knozv,  there  will,  as  I  believe,  be  but 
little  occasion  to  look  further  for  incentives  to  exertion 
in  the  pupil ;  and  I  may  venture  to  add,  as  a  scholium 
to  what  has  already  been  said,  that  the  teacher  who 
has  not  yet  learned  to  call  into  exercise  these  higher 
motives,  and  to  rely  for  success  mainly  upon  them,  and 
who  dares  not  abandon  the  system  of  exciting  stimulants 
for  fear  of  a  failure,  has  yet  much  to  learn  as  a  true  edu- 
cator of  the  young. 

TOPICAL   OUTLINE 

Preface. 

i.   A  school    interested   in   its   duties   is   a   school   easily 
governed. 

2.  The  interest  awakened  should  serve  for  self-education 

throughout  life. 

3.  Artificial  interest  in  studies  is  a  mistake. 

Read:    Bain's  Education  as  a  Science,  pp.  112,  113. 
White's  School  Management,  pp.  130-148. 
Putnam's  Manual  of  Pedagogics,  pp.  215- 
217. 

4.  Never  appeal   to  a  low  motive  if  a  higher  one  can  be 

aroused. 

I.    Emulation. 

1.  Difference  of  opinion  due  to  definition. 

2.  Define  emulation  in  its  good  sense. 

3.  Define  emulation  in  its  bad  sense. 

4.  State  the  arguments  for  and   against  emulation  in  the 

latter  sense. 

Read:   Bain's  Education  as  a  Science,  pp.  112,  113. 

Stewart's    Philosophy    of   the    Active    and 

Moral  Powers  of  Man  (Walker),  pp.  49- 

56. 

Compayre's  Lectures  on  Pedagogy,  pp.  448- 

453- 
II.   Prizes. 

1 .  Page's  conclusion. 

2.  His  arguments. 


EXCITING  INTEREST  IN  STUDY  l8l 

(i)  The  prize  outshines  worthier  objects. 

(2)  Engenders  rivalry  and  ill  will. 

(3)  Stimulates  a  few  only. 

(4)  There  is  danger  of  unjust  awards. 

a.  Due  to  unequal  facilities  of  contestants. 

b.  Pupils  are  tempted  to  dishonorable  practices. 

(5)  The  prize  rewards  success  and  talent ;  not  effort 

and  worthiness. 

(6)  Without   prizes  the  pupil  lacks  motive  for  self- 

improvement. 

(7)  Minimizes  the  example  of  some  of  the  best  students. 
3.    Rewards. 

Read:    White's  School  Management,  pp.  133-140. 

Putnam's  Manual  of  Pedagogics,  pp.  215-217. 
III.   Proper  Incentives, 

1.  The   desire   to  gain   the   approbation   of   parents   and 

teachers.     The  danger  line? 

2.  A  desire  for  advancement. 

3.  The  pleasure  of  acquisition. 

4.  The  desire  to  be  useful. 

5.  A  desire  to  do  right. 

Read  :   White's  School  Management,  pp.  130-190. 

SUBJECTS   FOR    DISCUSSION   OR   ESSAYS 

1.  Natural  and  Artificial  Incentives. 

White's  School  Management,  pp.  130-190. 
Spencer's  Education,  Chap.  III. 

2.  How  to  awaken  Interest  and  secure  Attention. 

Putnam's  Manual  of  Pedagogics,  Chap.  X. 
Baldwin's  School  Management,  pp.  299-306. 
Hughes's  Securing  and  Retaining  Attention. 


CHAPTER   X 

SCHOOL  GOVERNMENT 

We  have  children  to  obey  us  in  order  that  they  may  learn  how- 
to  obey  themselves.  Obedience  to  others  is  the  first  lesson  in  self- 
obedience.  He  that  has  never  learned  how  to  obey  others  will 
never  learn  how  to  obey  himself  or  God.  No  school  government  is 
possible  without  obedience  to  authority. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  any  space  in  this  work  should 
be  occupied  in  speaking  of  the  importance  of  order  in  our 
schools.  Everybody  who  has  written  or  spoken  on  this 
subject,  has  conceded  the  necessity  of  obedience  on  the 
part  of  the  pupil.  "  Order  is  heaven's  first  law  ;  "  and 
it  is  scarcely  more  essential  to  the  harmony  of  heaven, 
than  it  is  to  the  happiness  and  success  of  the  school. 

If  such  be  the  necessity  of  order  in  the  school,  then 
the  ability  to  secure  and  maintain  it  is  no  mean  part  of 
the  qualification  of  the  good  teacher.  It  is  lamentable 
that  so  many  fail  in  this  particular;  and  yet  this  fre- 
quent failure  can  in  most  cases  be  traced  to  some  defect 
in  the  constitutional  temperament,  or  some  deficiency 
in  the  mental  or  moral  culture  of  the  teacher  himself. 
It  shall  be  my  first  object,  then,  to  point  out  some  of  the 

SECTION    I. REQUISITES    IN    THE    TEACHER    FOR    GOOD 

GOVERNMENT 

I.  Self-government.  —  It  has  frequently  been  said 
that  no  man  can  govern  others  till  he  has  learned  to 
govern  himself.     I  have  no  doubt  of  the  truth  of  this. 

182 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  1 83 

If  an  individual  is  not  perfectly  self-possessed,  his 
decisions  must  fail  to  command  respect.  The  self- 
government  of  the  teacher  should  be  complete,  in  the 
following  particulars : 

1.  As  to  the  passion  of  anger.  The  exhibition  of 
anger  always  detracts  from  the  weight  of  authority.  A 
man  under  its  influence  is  not  capable  of  doing  strict 
justice  to  his  pupils.  Before  entering  upon  teaching, 
therefore,  a  man  should  somehow  obtain  the  mastery 
over  his  temper,  so  that  under  any  provocation  he  can 
control  it.  He  should  consider  that  in  school  his 
patience  will  often  be  severely  tried.  He  should  not 
expect,  indeed,  that  the  current  of  affairs  in  school  will 
for  a  single  day  run  perfectly  smooth.  He  should, 
therefore,  prepare  for  the  worst,  and  firmly  resolve 
that,  whatever  unpleasant  thing  shall  occur,  it  shall 
not  take  him  entirely  by  surprise.  Such  forethought 
will  give  him  self-command.  If,  however,  from  his 
past  experience,  and  from  the  nature  of  his  tempera- 
ment, he  is  satisfied  he  cannot  exercise  this  self-control, 
he  may  be  assured  he  is  the  wrong  man  to  engage  in 
teaching.  A  man  who  has  not  acquired  thorough 
ascendency  over  his  own  passions,  is  an  unsafe  man 
to  be  intrusted  with  the  government  of  children. 

2.  As  to  levity  and  moroseness  of  manner.  Either 
extreme  is  to  be  avoided.  There  are  some  teachers 
who  exhibit  such  a  frivolity  in  all  their  intercourse 
with  their  pupils,  that  they  can  never  command  them 
with  authority,  or  gain  their  cordial  respect.  This  is  a 
grievous  fault;  and  the  teacher  should  at  once  find 
an  antidote  for  it,  by  serious  reflection  upon  the  respon- 
sibility of  his  position.  If  this  will  not  cure  it,  nothing 
else  can. 


1 84  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

There  are  others  who  are  characterized  by  a  perpet- 
ual peevishness,  so  that  a  pleasant  word  from  them  is  in- 
deed a  strange  thing.  They  can  never  expect  to  gain 
the  affections  of  their  pupils ;  and  without  securing  the 
love  of  children,  the  government  of  them  will  never  be 
of  the  right  kind.  This  habit  of  snappishness  should  be 
broken  up  at  once. 

There  are  some  very  young  teachers,  who  sometimes 
assume  one  or  the  other  of  these  peculiar  modes  of  ad- 
dress, or  perhaps  both,  to  be  used  alternately,  —  fancy- 
ing that  they  will  gain  popularity  by  the  one,  or  give 
themselves  greater  authority  by  the  other.  This  is  a 
very  mistaken  notion  ;  for  children  have  more  discern- 
ment than  most  men  give  them  credit  for,  and  they 
usually  see  directly  through  such  a  flimsy  disguise, — 
and  the  teacher  becomes  ridiculous  rather  than  great  in 
their  estimation,  whenever  he  takes  any  such  false  posi- 
tion. 

Mr.  Abbott,  in  his  "  Teacher,"  states  a  fact  which 
well  illustrates  this  point.  "  Many  years  ago,"  says  he, 
"  when  I  was  a  child,  the  teacher  of  the  school  where 
my  early  studies  were  performed,  closed  his  connection 
with  the  establishment,  and,  after  a  short  vacation,  an- 
other was  expected.  On  the  appointed  day  the  boys 
began  to  collect,  some  from  curiosity,  at  an  early  hour, 
and  many  speculations  were  started  as  to  the  character 
of  the  new  instructor.  We  were  standing  near  a  table 
with  our  hats  on,  —  and  our  position,  and  the  exact  ap- 
pearance of  the  group  is  indelibly  fixed  on  my  memory, 
—  when  a  small  and  youthful-looking  man  entered  the 
room  and  walked  up  toward  us.  Supposing  him  to  be 
some  stranger,  or  rather,  not  making  any  supposition  at 
all,  we  stood  looking  at  him  as  he  approached,  and  were 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  185 

thunderstruck  at  hearing  him  accost  us  with  a  stern 
voice,  and  sterner  brow  :  '  Take  off  your  hats  !  Take 
off  your  hats,  and  go  to  your  seats.'  The  conviction 
immediately  rushed  upon  our  minds  that  this  must  be 
the  new  teacher.  The  first  emotion  was  that  of  surprise, 
and  the  second  was  that  of  the  ludicrous ;  though  I  be- 
lieve we  contrived  to  smother  the  laugh  until  we  got  out 
into  the  open  air." 

The  true  rule  is  to  act  the  part  which  is  agreeable  to 
nature.  The  teacher  having  gained  the  self-command 
just  insisted  upon,  and  having  in  him  the  spirit  of  kind- 
ness and  a  desire  to  be  useful,  should  assume  nothing 
unnatural  for  effect.  His  manner  should  be  truly  dig- 
nified, but  courteous. 

3.  As  to  his  treatment  of  those  pupils  that  are  marked 
by  some  peculiarity.  There  will  usually  be  some  pupils 
who  are  very  backward,  and  perhaps  very  dull,  —  or  who 
may  have  some  physical  defect,  or  some  mental  eccen- 
tricity. The  teacher  should  be  able  to  govern  himself 
in  all  his  remarks  concerning  such  pupils.  He  should 
avoid  allusion  to  such  singularities  before  the  school ; 
and  it  is  the  height  of  injustice  —  I  was  about  to  say, 
of  malevolence  —  for  him  ever  to  use  those  low  and 
degrading  epithets  so  often  found  upon  the  teacher's 
tongue,  —  such  as  dunce,  thickskull,  and  the  like.^is 
it  not  misfortune  enough  for  a  child  to  be  backward  or 
dull,  without  having  the  pain  and  mortification  increased 
by  the  cruelty  of  an  unfeeling  teacher  ?  The  teacher 
should  take  a  special  interest  in  such  children ;  he 
should  endeavor  to  enter  into  the  feelings  of  their  par- 
ents, and  to  treat  them  in  such  a  way  as  to  encourage 
rather  than  crush  them. 

II.     A  CONFIDENCE  IN    HIS    ABILITY   TO    GOVERN.  We 


1 86  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

can  generally  do  what  we  firmly  believe  we  can  do.  At 
any  rate,  a  man  is  more  likely  to  succeed  in  any  enter- 
prise, when  he  has  the  feeling  of  self-reliance.  The 
teacher,  by  reflection  upon  the  importance  of  good  gov- 
ernment to  his  success,  and  by  a  careful  study  of  the 
means  to  be  employed  and  the  motives  to  be  presented, 
should  be  able  to  bring  himself  to  the  determination  to 
have  good  order  in  his  school,  and  so  fully  to  believe  he 
can  have  it,  that  his  pupils  shall  detect  no  misgivings  in 
him  on  this  point.  Whenever  they  discover  that  he  has 
doubts  of  his  success  in  governing,  they  will  be  far  more 
ready  to  put  his  skill  to  the  test.  It  would  be  better 
that  a  young  teacher  should  decline  to  take  a  difficult 
school,  rather  than  enter  it  without  the  full  belief  of  his 
ability  to  succeed.  I  would  not  wish  to  be  understood 
by  these  remarks  to  be  encouraging  an  unreasonable 
and  blind  presumption.  A  confidence  in  one's  ability 
should  be  founded  upon  a  reasonable  estimate  of  his 
powers,  compared  with  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome. 
What  I  recommend  is,  that  the  teacher  should  carefully 
weigh  the  difficulties,  and  candidly  judge  of  his  own  re- 
sources, and  then  undertake  nothing  which  he  thinks  is 
beyond  his  ability.  If,  after  this,  he  believes  he  can  suc- 
ceed, other  things  being  equal,  success  is  almost  certain. 
III.  Just  views  of  Government.  —  i.  It  is  not 
tyranny,  exercised  to  please  the  one  who  governs,  or  to 
promote  his  own  convenience.  The  despot  commands  for 
the  sake  of  being  obeyed.  But  government  in  its  proper 
sense  is  an  arrangement  for  the  general  good,  —  for  the 
benefit  of  the  governed  as  well  as  of  the  ruler.  That  is 
not  good  government  which  seeks  any  other  object.  The 
teacher  should  so  view  the  matter ;  and  in  establishing 
any    regulations   in    school,  he   should   always   inquire 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  1 87 

whether  they  are  suggested  by  a  selfish  regard  to  his 
own  ease,  or  whether  they  spring  from  a  sincere  and 
disinterested  wish  to  promote  the  improvement  of  the 
school. 

2.  He  should  see  the  necessity  of  making  the  govern- 
ment uniform  ;  that  is,  the  same  from  day  to  day.  If 
he  punishes  to-day  what  he  tolerates  to-morrow,  he 
cannot  expect  the  cordial  respect  of  his  pupils.  Some 
teachers,  not  having  learned  the  art  of  self-government, 
take  counsel  too  much  of  their  own  feelings.  To-day 
they  are  in  good  health  and  spirits,  and  their  faces  are 
clothed  in  sunshine ;  they  can  smile  at  anything.  To- 
morrow, suffering  under  bad  digestion,  or  the  want  of 
exercise,  or  the  want  of  sleep,  the  thunder-storm  hovers 
about  their  brow,  ready  to  burst  upon  the  first  offender. 
Woe  to  the  luckless  wight  who  does  not  seasonably  dis- 
cover this  change  in  the  condition  of  the  weather.  A 
teacher  cannot  long  respect  himself  who  is  thus  capri- 
cious ;  he  may  be  sure  his  school  will  not  long  respect 
him. 

3,  He  should  so  view  government  as  to  make  it  equal ; 
that  is,  equal  in  its  application  to  the  whole  school,  — 
the  large  as  well  as  small  scholars,  the  males  as  well  as 
females.  This  is  often  a  great  fault  with  teachers. 
They  raise  up  a  sort  of  aristocracy  in  their  schools,  a 
privileged  class,  a  miniature  nobility.  They  will  insist 
that  the  little  boys  and  girls  shall  abstain  from  cer- 
tain practices,  —  whispering,  for  instance,  —  and  most 
promptly  punish  the  offenders,  while  they  tolerate  the 
same  thing  among  the  larger  pupils.  This  is  cowardly 
in  itself,  and  as  impolitic  as  it  is  cowardly.  The  teacher 
makes  a  great  mistake  who  begins  his  government  with 
the  small  children,  in  the  hope  of  frightening  the  larger 


1 88  THEORY  AMD  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

ones  into  obedience.  He  should  have  the  manliness  and 
the  justice  to  begin  with  the  larger  pupils ;  the  smaller 
ones  never  resist,  when  authority  is  established  with 
those  above  them.  Besides  this,  the  very  class  who  are 
thus  indulged,  are  the  very  ones  who  soonest  despise, 
and  justly  too,  the  authority  of  the  teacher. 

He  should  make  his  government  impartial  in  every 
respect.  He  should  have  no  favorites  —  no  preferences 
based  upon  the  outward  circumstances  of  the  child,  his 
family,  or  his  personal  attractions,  and  the  like.  The 
rich  and  the  poor  should  be  alike  to  the  teacher.  He 
should  remember  that  each  child  has  a  soul ;  and  it  is 
with  the  soul,  and  not  with  the  wealth  of  this  world, 
that  he  has  to  do.  He  should  remember  that  a  gem, 
as  bright  as  a  sunbeam,  is  often  concealed  under  a  rough 
exterior.  It  should  be  his  work,  nay  his  delight  —  to 
bring  out  this  gem  from  its  hiding  place,  and  apply 
to  it  the  polish  of  a  "  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be 
ashamed." 

IV.  Just  views  of  the  Governed.  —  Notwithstand- 
ing the  imperfection  of  human  nature,  as  developed  in 
the  young,  they  have  some  redeeming  qualities.  They 
are  intelligent  and  reasonable  beings.  They  have  more 
or  less  love  of  approbation ;  they  have  affection,  and, 
above  all,  they  have  a  moral  sense.  All  these  qualities 
are  considerably  developed  before  they  enter  the  schoof. 
The  teacher  should  remember  this,  and  prepare  himself 
to  address,  as  far  as  may  be,  all  these.  Love  of  appro- 
bation, as  we  have  before  seen,  is  not  an  unworthy  mo- 
tive to  be  addressed,  and  it  is  well  known  that  many 
children  are  very  easily  controlled  by  it.  It  is  not  the 
highest  motive,  to  be  sure,  nor  is  it  the  lowest.  The 
affection  for  a  teacher,  which  many  children  will  exer- 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  1 89 

cise,  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  instrumentalities  in 
governing  them  with  ease.  The  conscience,  early  trained, 
is  all-powerful.  I  allude  to  these  principles  of  action 
once  more,  in  order  to  say  that  the  peculiar  character 
of  each  should  be  well  studied  by  the  teacher.  He 
should  understand  the  human  mind  so  well  as  to  be 
able  to  find  the  avenues  to  these  better  parts  of  the 
child's  nature,  remembering  that  whenever  several  ways 
are  presented  of  doing  the  same  thing,  it  is  always  wise 
to  choose  the  best. 

V.  Decision  and  Firmness.  —  By  decision,  I  mean 
a  readiness  to  determine  and  to  act  in  any  event  just 
as  duty  seems  to  dictate  ;  a  willingness  to  take  the  re- 
sponsibility just  as  soon  as  the  way  is  plain.  By  firm- 
ness, is  meant  that  fixedness  of  purpose  which  resolutely 
carries  out  a  righteous  decision.  Both  of  these  qualities 
are  essential  to  good  government  in  the  teacher.  Much 
time  is  often  lost  by  a  teacher's  vacillating  when  action 
is  more  important.  Besides,  if  the  pupils  discover  that 
the  teacher  hesitates,  and  dreads  to  take  any  responsi- 
bility, they  very  soon  lose  their  respect  for  him.  I  would 
not  urge  that  a  teacher  should  act  hastily.  He  never 
should  decide  till  he  is  confident  he  decides  right ;  any 
delay  is  better  than  hasty  error.  But  his  delay,  in^ll 
matters  of  government,  should  have  reference  to  a  true 
knowledge  of  his  duty ;  when  that  is  clearly  known,  he 
should  be  decided. 

Many  teachers  suffer  in  their  government  for  want 
of  firmness.  They  act  upon  the  principle  of  personal 
convenience,  as  did  the  unjust  judge  mentioned  in  the 
parable.  "  And  he  would  not  for  a  while ;  but  after- 
wards he  said  within  himself,  Though  I  fear  not  God 
nor  regard  man  ;  yet  because  this  widow  troubleth  me,  I 


190  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

will  arise  and  avenge  her,  lest  by  her  continual  coming 
she  weary  me"  How  often  we  hear  something  like 
this  in  the  schoolroom.  "May  I  go  and  drink?"  — 
says  James,  in  a  peculiarly  imploring  tone.  "  No,"  says 
the  teacher,  promptly,  and  evidently  without  any  reflec- 
tion as  to  the  decision  he  has  made.  James  very  com- 
posedly sits  down,  eying  the  countenance  of  the  teacher 
expressively,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  I'll  try  you  again 
soon."  Before  long  he  observes  the  teacher  quite  busy 
with  a  class,  and  he  again  pops  the  question :  "  May  I 
go  and  drink  ? " 

Stung  at  the  moment  with  impatience  at  the  inter- 
ruption, the  teacher  answers  instantly  and  emphatically, 
"  No,  no,  James;  sit  down." 

James  still  watches  his  teacher's  expression,  and  can- 
not discover  there  any  signs  of  a  mind  seeking  the  path 
of  duty,  and  he  silently  thinks  to  himself,  "The  third 
time  never  fails."  So,  after  a  minute  or  two,  when  the 
teacher  is  somewhat  puzzled  with  a  knotty  question, 
and  is  on  the  point  of  nibbing  a  pen  besides,  —  "  May 
I  go  and  drink,  sir?"  again  rings  upon  the  teacher's 
ear.  "  Yes,  yes,  yes  !  do  go  along  ;  /  suppose  you'll 
keep  asking  till  you  get  it" 

Now  James  goes  to  drink,  and  then  returns  to  philoso- 
phize upon  this  matter,  perhaps  as  follows  :  "  I  don't 
believe  he  stopped  to  think  whether  I  needed  drink  or 
not ;  therefore  hereafter  I  shall  never  believe  he  really 
means  noy  when  he  says  it.  He  acts  without  thought. 
I  have  also  found  that  if  I  will  but  ask  several  times  I 
shall  get  it.  So  I  shall  know  how  to  proceed  next  time." 
—  I  do  not  know  that  any  child  would  express  this 
thought  in  so  many  words;  but  the  impression  upon 
his  mind  is  none  the  less  distinct 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  191 

Now  the  teacher  should  carefully  consider  the  ques- 
tion addressed  to  him.  How  long  since  this  child  had 
water  ?  Can  it  be  necessary  for  him  to  drink  so  often  ? 
Then  let  the  answer  be  given  mildly,  but  decidedly  — 
"  No,  James.'' 

The  very  manner,  quite  likely,  will  settle  the  ques- 
tion, so  that  James  will  not  ask  again.  The  answer 
once  given  should  be  firmly  adhered  to.  It  would  even 
be  better  that  James  should  suffer  for  the  want  of  water 
than  for  the  want  of  confidence  in  his  teacher's  firmness. 
In  this  way  the  teacher  would  establish  his  word  with 
the  school  in  a  very  few  days;  and  his  pupils  would 
soon  learn  that  with  him  "no"  means  "no,"  and  "yes" 
means  "yes"  —  a  matter  of  no  small  importance  to 
the  teacher  of  a  school. 

VI.  Deep  Moral  Principle.  —  The  teacher  should 
ever  be  a  conscientious  man;  and  in  nothing  is  this 
more  necessary  than  in  the  exercise  of  good  govern- 
ment. In  this  matter  the  teacher  can  never  respect 
himself  when  he  acts  from  caprice  or  selfishness.  His 
inquiry  should  be,  What  is  right?  What  is  justice  — 
justice  to  my  pupils  —  to  myself?  And  if  he  could 
add  to  moral  obligation  the  high  sanctions  of  religious 
principle,  and  could  habitually  and  sincerely  turn  his 
thoughts  to  his  Maker,  with  the  heartfelt  inquiry  — 
What  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?  —  then  he  would  sel- 
dom err  in  the  discharge  of  this  trust.  His  pupils, 
seeing  that  he  acted  from  fixed  and  deep  principle, 
would  respect  his  honesty,  even  if  he  should  cross  their 
desires. 

Having  now  dwelt  at  some  length  upon  the  requisites 
in  the  teacher  for  good  government,  I  shall  next  proceed 
to  present  some  of  the 


19^  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

SECTION    II. MEANS    OF    SECURING    GOOD    ORDER 

I.  Be  careful  as  to  the  first  impression  you 
make.  —  It  is  an  old  proverb,  that  "  what  is  well  begun 
is  half  done."  This  holds  true  in  school  keeping,  and 
particularly  in  school  government.  The  young  study 
character  very  speedily  and  very  accurately.  Perhaps 
no  one  pupil  could  express  in  words  an  exact  estimate 
of  a  teacher's  character  after  a  week's  acquaintance ; 
but  yet  the  whole  school  has  received  an  impression 
which  is  not  far  from  the  truth.  A  teacher,  then,  is 
very  unwise  who  attempts  to  assume  to  be  anything 
which  he  is  not.  He  should  ever  be  frank;  and  in 
commencing  a  school  he  should  begin  as  he  can  hold 
out.  Any  assumption  of  an  authoritative  tone  is  espe- 
cially ill  judged.  The  pupils  at  once  put  themselves  in 
an  attitude  of  resistance  when  this  is  perceived  by  them. 

A  teacher  should  ever  remember  that  among  children 

—  however  it  may  be  among  adults  —  respect  always 
precedes  attachment.  If  he  would  gain  the  love  of  the 
children,  he  must  first  be  worthy  of  their  respect.  He 
should  therefore  act  deliberately,  and  always  conscien- 
tiously. He  should  be  firm  but  never  petulant.  It  is 
very  important  at  the  outset  that  he  should  be  truly 
courteous  and  affable.  It  is  much  wiser  to  request  than 
to  command,  at  least  until  the  request  has  been  disre- 
garded.    There  are  usually  two  ways  of  doing  a  thing, 

—  a  gentle  and  a  rough  way.  "  John,  go  and  shut  that 
door,"  in  a  gruff  tone,  is  one  way  to  have  a  door  closed. 
John  will  undoubtedly  go  and  shut  the  door  —  perhaps 
with  a  slam,  —  but  he  will  not  thank  the  teacher  for  the 
rough  tones  used  in  commanding  it.  Now  it  costs  no 
more  time  or  breath  to  say,  "John,  I'll  thank  you  if 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  193 

you  will  shut  that  door."  Most  cheerfully  will  John 
comply  with  the  request,  and  he  is  grateful  that  he  has 
heard  these  tones  of  kindness.  If  he  could  but  know 
the  teacher's  wishes  afterward,  he  would  gladly  perform 
them  unasked.  I  would  by  no  means  recommend  the 
adoption  of  the  fawning  tone  of  the  sycophant  by  the 
teacher.  He  should  be  manly  and  dignified  ;  but  the  lan- 
guage of  that  courtesy  which  springs  from  real  kindness, 
and  which  ever  becomes  the  gentleman,  is  always  the 
most  suitable  as  well  as  most  expedient  for  him. 

II.  Avoid  exhibiting  or  entertaining  a  suspi- 
cious spirit.  —  It  is  a  maxim  of  law,  that  one  charged 
with  crime  is  always  to  be  presumed  innocent  until 
proved  guilty.  This  should  be  a  maxim  with  the 
teacher  who  would  govern  well.  There  is  no  more 
direct  way  of  making  a  school  vicious,  than  by  showing 
them  that  you  suspect  they  are  so.  A  good  reputation 
is  dear  to  all ;  and  even  a  bad  boy  will  be  restrained 
from  wicked  acts  as  long  as  he  thinks  you  give  him 
credit  for  good  intentions.  But  if  he  finds  that  he  has 
lost  your  good  opinion,  he  feels  that  he  has  nothing 
further  to  lose  by  being  as  bad  as  you  suspect  him  to 
be.  A  teacher  is  wise,  therefore,  if  he  tries  to  see 
something  good  even  in  a  vicious  pupil.  It  may  be,  as 
it  often  has  been,  the  means  of  saving  such  a  pupilT^  I 
have  known  a  very  depraved  boy  entirely  reformed  in 
school,  by  his  teacher's  letting  him  know  that  he  had 
noticed  some  good  traits  in  his  character.  He  after- 
ward told  his  teacher  that  "  he  had  been  so  often  sus- 
pected to  be  a  villain,  that  he  had  almost  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  would  be  one ;  but  that,  when  he 
found  one  man  who  could  do  him  the  justice  to  give 
him  credit  for  a  few  good  feelings  —  (for  he  knew  he 

B.-P.   THE.    &   PR.   TEACHING — 1 3 


194  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

had  them)  —  he  at  once  determined  to  show  that  man 
that  his  confidence  had  not  been  misplaced ;  and  that 
he  would  sooner  die  than  knowingly  offend  the  only 
person  who  ever  had  understood  him." 

It  is  wise  sometimes,  not  only  to  withhold  the  expres- 
sion of  suspicion,  but  to  give  some  token  of  your  con- 
fidence to  the  pupil  who  is  troublesome.  Intrust  him 
with  some  errand  involving  responsibility,  or  assign  to 
him  some  duty  by  way  of  assistance  to  yourself,  and 
very  likely  you  will  gain  his  good  will  ever  after.  This 
is  founded  upon  the  well-known  principle  in  human 
nature  acted  upon  by  Dr.  Franklin,  who,  when  he 
would  gain  his  enemy,  asked  him  to  do  him  a  favor. 

III.     AS    SOON    AS   POSSIBLE   GIVE   REGULAR  AND  FULL 

employment.  —  It  is  an  old  proverb  that  "  Idleness  is 
the  mother  of  mischief.,,  The  nursery  hymn  also  con- 
tains a  living  truth  — 

"  And  Satan  finds  some  mischief  still 
For  idle  hands  to  do." 

It  is  the  law  of  a  child's  nature  to  be  active;  and  as 
the  teacher  is  placed  in  the  school  to  give  direction  to 
such  minds,  he  can  hardly  complain  of  their  going  upon 
forbidden  objects  unless  he  seasonably  provides  some- 
thing better  for  them  to  do. 

Very  early,  then,  the  teacher  should  endeavor  to 
classify  his  school  and  furnish  constant  and  full  em- 
ployment—  either  of  study,  recitation,  or  relaxation  — 
for  every  hour  in  the  day.  The  teacher  should  have  a 
plan  when  he  opens  the  school,  and  the  sooner  it  is  car- 
ried into  full  operation  the  better.1  Besides,  when  a 
teacher  has  given  employment,  he  has  a  right  to  insist 
upon  the  pupil's  being  engaged  in  study.     Nobody  will  - 

1  See  chap.  XI.  of  this  work. 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  195 

question  this  right ;  and  it  is  far  more  profitable  to  re- 
quire a  positive  duty  than  to  enjoin  a  negative,  —  such 
as  abstinence  from  whispering  or  from  mischief  in 
general. 

IV.  Make  but  few  rules.  —  It  is  a  very  common 
thing  for  teachers  to  embarrass  themselves  by  a  long 
code  of  requirements  and  prohibitions.  Some  go  so 
far  as  to  write  out  a  system  of  laws,  and,  annexing  to 
each  the  penalty  for  its  infringement,  post  them  up  in 
a  conspicuous  place  in  the  schoolroom.  Others  content 
themselves  with  a  verbal  announcement  of  them,  and 
rely  upon  the  memories  of  the  pupils  to  retain  the 
details  of  them  and  to  govern  themselves  accordingly. 
This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  a  great  mistake.  The  multi- 
plicity of  specific  rules  for  the  government  of  a  school, 
will  naturally  lead  to  a  multiplicity  of  offenses.  Chil- 
dren will  be  confused  by  the  varying  and  sometimes 
conflicting  demand  of  a  formidable  code  of  regulations, 
and  in  endeavoring  to  avoid  Scylla  will  be  likely  to  fall 
into  Charybdis.  It  is  believed  by  some  honest  states- 
men that  "the  world  has  been  governed  too  much;" 
and  it  is  often  alleged  in  support  of  this  belief  that 
successful  compliance  with  the  laws  requires  far  more 
wisdom  than  was  displayed  in  making  them ;  that  is, 
the  science  of  obedience  is  far  more  abstruse  than  the 
science  of  legislation !  Whether  this  be  true  in  the 
civil  world  or  not  I  shall  not  attempt  to  decide ;  I  will 
only  say  that  such  has  too  often  been  the  fact  in  the 
schoolroom. 

It  is  in  my  opinion  the  part  of  wisdom,  and  I  think 
also  the  teaching  of  experience,  that  it  is  best  to  make 
but  few  rules.  The  great  rule  of  duty,  quoted  once 
before,  "  Do  unto  others  as  you  would  that  they  should 


196  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

do  to  you,"  comprises  quite  enough  to  begin  with.  The 
direction  —  Do  right,  is  a  very  comprehensive  one. 
There  is  in  children  an  ability  to  distinguish  between 
right  and  wrong,  upon  which  the  teacher  may  ever 
rely ;  and  by  insisting  upon  this  as  the  standard,  he 
daily  brings  into  exercise  the  conscience  of  the  child, 
who  is  called  upon  to  decide,  Is  this  right?  Besides, 
if  a  school  is  to  be  governed  by  a  code  of  laws,  the 
pupils  will  act  upon  the  principle  that  whatever  is  not 
proscribed  is  admissible.  Consequently  without  in- 
quiring whether  an  act  is  right,  their  only  inquiry  will 
be,  Is  it  forbidden  ?  Now  no  teacher  was  ever  yet  so 
wise  as  to  make  laws  for  every  case ;  the  consequence 
is,  he  is  daily  perplexed  with  unforeseen  troubles,  or 
with  some  ingenious  evasions  of  his  inflexible  code.  In 
all  this  matter  the  worst  feature  is  the  fact  that  the 
child  judges  of  his  acts  by  the  law  of  the  teacher  rather 
than  by  the  law  of  his  conscience,  and  is  thus  in  danger 
of  perverting  and  blunting  the  moral  sense. 

To  this  it  may  be  added  that  the  teacher  will  often 
find  himself  very  much  perplexed  in  attempting  to 
judge  the  acts  of  his  pupils  by  fixed  laws,  and  in 
awarding  to  all  violations  of  them  a  prescribed  penalty. 
Cases  will  frequently  occur  in  which  two  scholars  will 
offend  against  a  given  prohibition,  with  altogether  dif- 
ferent intentions,  —  the  one  having  a  good  motive  and 
forgetting  the  law ;  the  other  with  the  law  in  his  mind 
and  having  a  wicked  design  to  violate  it.  Now  the 
written  code  with  its  prescribed  penalty  allows  the 
teacher  no  discretion.  He  must  maintain  his  law  and 
punish  both  offenders,  and  thus  violate  his  own  sense 
of  justice ;  or  he  must  pass  both  by,  and  thus  violate 
his  word.     He  cannot  excuse  the  one  and  punish  the 


SCHOOL   GOVERNMENT  1 97 

other,  as  justice  would  evidently  demand,  without  set- 
ting at  naught  his  own  laws. 

An  example  will  illustrate  this  point.  A  teacher  has 
made  a  rule  that  "any  child  who  whispers  without 
leave  shall  be  feruled."  Now  two  little  boys  sit  side 
by  side.  William  is  an  amiable,  obedient,  and  diligent 
little  boy,  who  has  never  violated  intentionally  any 
wish  of  his  teacher ;  while  Charles  is  a  sour-tempered, 
vicious,  unprincipled  fellow,  who  a  dozen  times  within 
a  week  has  sought  to  make  his  teacher  trouble.  Little 
John,  who  sits  near  to  William,  drops  his  pencil,  and  it 
falls  under  William's  desk.  John  looks  for  his  pencil 
on  the  right  and  left  of  his  seat,  grows  anxious  and 
perplexed.  William  has  noticed  him,  and  he  carefully 
picks  up  the  pencil  while  he  perhaps  is  looking  for  it 
in  another  direction,  —  and  with  the  kind  intention  of 
relieving  his  neighbor's  anxiety  and  restoring  his  prop- 
erty, he  touches  his  elbow,  and  softly  whispers,  "  Here 
is  your  pencil,  John," — then  immediately  resumes  his 
own  studies,  and  is  probably  entirely  unconscious  that 
he  has  violated  any  law.  At  the  same  instant  the  art- 
ful Charles,  half  concealing  his  face  with  his  hand,  with 
his  wary  eye  turned  to  the  teacher,  willfully  addresses 
another  pupil  on  some  point  in  no  way  connected  with 
study  or  duty.  The  teacher  sees  both  these  cases,^and 
calls  the  offenders  to  his  desk.  The  one  trembles,  and 
wonders  what  he  has  done  amiss,  while  the  other  per- 
haps prepares  himself  to  deny  his  offense,  and  thus  to 
add  falsehood  to  his  other  sins.  The  rule  awards  to 
both  the  ferule.  It  is  applied  to  Charles  with  energy, 
and  with  the  conviction  that  he  deserves  it ;  but  I  ask, 
can  a  man  with  any  sense  of  justice  raise  his  hand  to 
punish  William  ?     If  so,   I  see  not  how  he  can  ever 


198  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

again  hold  converse  with  his  own  conscience.  Yet  the 
rule  allows  him  no  discretion.  He  must  violate  either 
the  rule  or  his  conscience ;  and  too  often  in  such  cases 
he  chooses  the  latter  alternative. 

Now  my  advice  is,  make  but  few  rules,  and  never 
multiply  them  till  circumstances  demand  it.  The  rule 
of  right  will  usually  be  sufficient  without  any  special 
legislation ;  and  it  has  this  advantage,  that  it  leaves 
the  teacher  the  largest  discretion. 

I  have  been  thus  full  on  this  point,  because  so  many 
fail  here,  and  especially  young  teachers.  It  has  cost 
many  a  young  teacher  much  bitter  experience  to  make 
this  discovery  for  himself ;  and  I  have  desired  to  save 
others  who  may  hereafter  engage  in  teaching,  the  pain 
and  perplexity  which  they  may  so  easily  and  so .  safely 
avoid. 

For  similar  reasons  I  should  also  urge  that  the 
teacher  should  avoid  the  too  common  practice  of  threat- 
ening  in  his  school.  Threatening  is  usually  resorted  to 
as  a  means  of  frightening  children  into  their  duty,  — 
and,  too  often,  threats  are  made  without  any  expecta- 
tion of  a  speedy  necessity  either  to  execute  or  disregard 
them.  The  consequence  is,  they  are  usually  more  ex- 
travagant than  the  reality,  and  the  teacher's  word  soon 
passes  at  a  discount;  his  threats  are  viewed  as  very 
much  like  the  barking  of  a  dog  which  has  no  intention 
to  bite.  As  threatening  is  moreover  the  language  of 
impatience,  it  almost  always  leads  to  a  loss  of  respect. 

V.  Wake  up  mind  in  the  school,  and  in  the  dis- 
trict. —  There  is  usually  but  very  little  trouble  in 
government  where  the  scholars  are  deeply  engaged  in 
their  studies  or  school  exercises,  and  especially  if  at  the 
same  time  the  feelings  of  the  parents  are  enlisted.     To 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  1 99 

this  end  I  would  recommend  that  early  attention  should 
be  given  to  some  efforts  to  wake  up  mind,  such  as  have 
been  described  in  a  former  section  of  this  work.  It 
will  be  found,  when  skillfully  conducted,  one  of  the 
most  successful  instrumentalities  in  aid  of  good  order 
and  good  feeling  in  the  school. 

An  ingenious  teacher,  too,  may  introduce  other  varie- 
ties into  the  school  exercises,  and  thus  sometimes  turn 
the  attention  of  discontented  pupils  from  some  evil 
design  to  give  him  trouble.  So  long  as  the  teacher 
keeps  steadily  the  main  object  of  his  school  in  view, 
namely,  progress  in  the  studies,  he  is  excusable  if  occa- 
sionally, to  break  up  monotony  and  excite  a  deeper 
interest,  he  introduces  a  well-considered  new  plan  of 
study  or  of  recitation.  Indeed,  much  of  his  success 
will  depend  upon  his  power  to  do  this,  and  in  nothing 
will  its  advantages  appear  more  obviously  than  in  the 
government  of  the  school.  A  great  portion  of  the  dis- 
order and  insubordination  in  our  schools  has  its  origin 
in  a  want  of  interest  in  the  school  exercises.  He  is  the 
successful  teacher  and  the  successful  disciplinarian  who 
can  excite  and  maintain  the  necessary  interest. 

As  one  of  these  varieties,  I  may  mention  the  exercise 
of  vocal  music  in  school.  I  have  already  alluded  to  it. 
As  a  means  of  keeping  alive  the  interest  in  a  school,  it 
is  very  important.  Music  is  the  language  of  the  heart, 
and  though  capable  of  being  grossly  perverted  —  (and 
what  gift  of  God  is  not?)  —  its  natural  tendency  is  to 
elevate  the  affections,  to  soothe  the  passions,  and  to 
refine  the  taste. 

"The  Germans  have  a  proverb/'  says  Bishop  Potter, 
"which  has  come  down  from  the  days  of  Luther,  that 
where  music  is  not,  the  devil  enters.     As  David  took 


200  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

his  harp,  when  he  would  cause  the  evil  spirit  to  depart 
from  Saul,  so  the  Germans  employ  it  to  expel  the 
obduracy  from  the  hearts  of  the  depraved.  In  their 
schools  for  the  reformation  of  juvenile  offenders  (and 
the  same  remark  might  be  applied  to  those  of  our  own 
country),  music  has  been  found  one  of  the  most  effec- 
tual means  of  inducing  docility  among  the  stubborn  and 
vicious.  It  would  seem  that  so  long  as  any  remains  of 
humanity  linger  in  the  heart,  it  retains  its  susceptibility 
to  music.  And  as  proof  that  music  is  more  powerful 
for  good  than  for  evil,  is  it  not  worthy  of  profound  con- 
sideration that  in  all  the  intimations  which  the  Bible 
gives  us  of  a  future  world  music  is  associated  only  with 
the  employments  and  happiness  of  Heaven  ? " 

Almost  any  teacher  can  introduce  music  into  his 
school ;  because  if  he  cannot  sing,  he  will  always  find 
that  it  will  only  require  a  little  encouragement  to  induce 
the  scholars  to  undertake  to  conduct  it  themselves.  It 
will  consume  but  very  little  time,  and  it  is  always  that 
time  which,  if  not  employed  in  singing,  would  other- 
wise be  unemployed  or  misemployed.  It  is  the  united 
testimony  of  all  who  have  judiciously  introduced  sing- 
ing into  their  schools,  that  it  is  among  the  best  instru- 
mentalities for  the  promotion  of  good  feeling  and  good 
order. 

VI.  Visit  the  parents  of  your  scholars.  —  I  shall 
more  particularly  enjoin  this,  when  I  speak  of  the 
teacher's  relation  to  his  patrons  [Chap.  XII.],  but  I  can- 
not forbear  in  this  place  to  urge  it  upon  the  teacher 
as  one  of  the  means  of  securing  good  order  in  school. 
A  great  deal  of  the  insubordination  in  our  schools 
arises  from  some  misunderstanding,  or  some  dislike 
entertained    by   the    parent    toward   the    teacher,    and 


SCHOOL   GOVERNMENT  201 

spoken  of  in  presence  of  the  children.  Whatever  the 
pupils  hear  at  home  they  will  be  likely  to  exemplify  in 
school.  It  should  be  the  teacher's  first  object  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  parent,  and  to  let  him  understand, 
by  a  personal  interview,  all  his  plans  and  aims  for  the 
improvement  of  the  school.  This  can  be  done  best  at 
the  parent's  own  fireside.  It  has  often  happened  that 
by  a  friendly  visit  of  an  hour  by  the  teacher  the  parent's 
heart  has  been  softened,  his  prejudices  removed,  his 
cooperation  gained,  and  the  cheerful  and  cordial  obedi- 
ence of  his  children  in  school  secured. 

These  visits  should  of  course  be  made  in  the  true 
spirit  of  the  teacher.  They  should  be  made  in  the 
honest  desire  of  his  heart  to  render  his  labors  more  suc- 
cessful. A  visit  made  in  such  a  spirit  seldom  fails  to 
make  the  parents  personal  friends  ever  after;  and  of 
course  in  case  of  a  collision  afterward  between  him 
and  their  children,  this  is  a  very  important  point. 

VII.  Registers  of  Credits.  —  Registers  of  the  stand- 
ing of  pupils  in  their  schools  and  their  classes  are  very 
highly  recommended  by  some  whose  experience  is  en- 
titled to  confidence.  I  am  inclined  to  place  this  among 
the  means  of  securing  good  order.  I  would  recommend, 
however,  that  they  should  be  registers  of  credits  only. 
Some  recommend  the  use  of  "  black  marks"  that  is, 
the  record  of  prominent  faults  and  perhaps  of  punish- 
ments. My  own  experience  teaches  me  that  this  is 
unwise.  The  teacher  should  not  show  a  willingness  to 
record  and  publish  the  faults  of  a  pupil.  He  should, 
on  the  contrary,  show  a  tender  regard  for  his  reputa- 
tion. Besides,  the  child  is  less  likely  to  be  mindful  of 
his  duty  when  his  reputation  is  already  blackened  by  his 
teacher.     If  registers  are  to  be  kept  at  all,  they  should 


202  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    0E  TEACHING 

record  the  successes  and  virtues  of  the  child  rather  than 
his  failures  and  faults.  And  if,  at  the  end  of  a  week  or 
a  month,  he  is  furnished  with  an  abstract  for  the  inspec- 
tion of  his  parents,  let  it  be  so  much  of  good  character 
as  he  has  earned  for  himself  during  the  specified  time. 

I  confess  I  am  less  sanguine  than  many  others  as  to 
the  utility  of  the  register,  as  an  incentive  either  to  obe- 
dience or  to  diligence;  but  if  used  at  all,  I  think  the 
above  restriction  is  highly  important. 

VIII.  Avoid  governing  too  much.  —  By  this  I  would 
be  understood  to  urge  upon  the  teacher  the  fact  that 
his  main  business  in  school  is  instruction  and  not  govern- 
ment. Government  is  a  means  and  not  the  end  of  school 
keeping.  A  very  judicious  and  practical  teacher  —  Mr. 
R.  S.  Howard  —  has  well  remarked:  "The  real  object 
to  be  accomplished,  the  real  end  to  be  obtained  in  school, 
is  to  assist  the  pupil  in  acquiring  knowledge,  —  to  edu- 
cate the  mind  and  heart.  To  effect  this,  good  order  is 
very  necessary.  But  when  order  is  made  to  take  the 
place  of  industry-,  and  discipline  the  place  of  instruction, 
where  the  time  of  both  teacher  and  pupils  is  mostly 
spent  in  watching  each  other,  very  little  good  will  be 
accomplished.,, 

It  is  a  mistake  that  many  teachers  fall  into,  that  the} 
seem  to  regard  government  as  their  chief  occupation ; 
and,  as  we  should  naturally  expect  in  such  cases,  it  is 
often  very  poorly  exercised.  That:  is  not  the  best  gov- 
ernment which  is  maintained  as  a  matter  of  formal  busi- 
ness. The  noiseless  undercurrent  is  far  more  efficient. 
I  have  always  noticed  that  men  govern  best  when  they 
do  not  seem  to  govern  ;  and  those  who  make  most  effort 
and  bustle  about  it  themselves  are  pretty  sure  to  have 
the  most  boisterous  schools. 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  203 

I  once  in  company  with  a  friend  officially  visited  a 
school  where  the  teacher,  a  man  of  strong  frame  —  six 
feet  high,  and  with  lungs  in  proportion,  was  laboring  to 
keep  order.  Every  word  he  uttered  was  in  a  stento- 
rian voice  which  would  have  been  painful  to  the  pupils 
in  a  quiet  room ;  hence,  they  took  care  to  keep  up  a 
constant  clattering  of  books,  slates,  and  rulers,  mingled 
with  the  constant  hum  of  their  own  voices,  as  if  for 
self-defense.  It  seemed  to  be  a  mighty  effort  of  each 
party  to  rise  if  possible  above  the  noise  of  the  other. 
"  Silence  !  Order  !  I  say,"  was  constantly  ejaculated  in 
a  voice  that  was  almost  sufficient,  as  Shakespeare's  Ham- 
let would  say,  to  "split  the  ears  of  the  groundlings." 

One  of  the  most  ludicrous  scenes  I  ever  witnessed 
occurred  in  this  school  during  an  exercise  in  English 
grammar.  The  class  occupied  the  back  seats,  while 
the  teacher  stood  by  the  desk  in  front  of  the  school. 
The  children  between  the  teacher  and  his  class  were 
variously  employed,  —  some  manufacturing  paper  fly 
boxes,  some  whittling  the  benches  —  (it  was  in  New 
England);  some  were  trying  their  skill  at  a  spitball 
warfare ;  others  were  making  voyages  of  exploration 
beneath  the  seats.  The  school,  consisting  of  some 
seventy  pupils,  were  as  busy  as  the  occupants  of  an 
ant-hill.  The  sentence  to  be  parsed  was,  "  A  goodTboy 
loves  study."  No  written  description  can  present  the 
scene  as  it  was  acted  in  real  life. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  every  word  spoken 
by  the  teacher,  whether  to  the  class  or  to  the  school, 
was  in  a  tone  of  voice  which  might  have  been  heard 
at  least  an  eighth  of  a  mile,  and  that  every  exclamation 
was  accompanied  by  several  energetic  thumps  of  a  large 
oaken  "  rule  "  upon  the  lid  of  his  desk.     The  language 


204  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

of  the  teacher  is  in  italics.  " Mary, parse  A."  "A  is 
an  indefinite  "  —  "  Silence  !  Order  there!"  —  "article, 
and  is  prefixed  to  "  —  "John  !  "  —  "  No,  sir,  it  is  pre- 
fixed to"  —  "Martha,  Martha!  sit  up" —  "it  is  pre- 
fixed to  —  boy."  —  "Right.  —  Good,  next."  —  "Good  is 
an  adjective,"  —  "  Order,  Order,  Order  !  "  —  thump, 
thump,  thump  !  —  "  Go  on,  go  on,  I  hear  you  !  "  — thump, 
thump  !  —  "  and  belongs  to  "  —  "  Speak  louder  !  Sit  up 
there!  What  are  you  doing?  And  belongs  to?"  — 
"  boy."  —  "  The  Rule.  The  Rule  !  /  say."  —  Here  sev- 
eral children  looked  earnestly  at  the  piece  of  timber  he 
held  in  his  hand.  —  "  The  Rule,  sir,  the  Rule  !  "  —  thump, 
thump!  —  "You've  got  it  in  your  hand,"  vociferated  a 
little  harmless-looking  fellow  on  the  front  seat,  while 
the  scholar  proceeded  to  recite  the  rule.  —  "  Adjectives 
belong  to  "  —  "Lazy,  lazy  fellow  !  sit  up  there."  —  Here 
the  class  smiled,  and  the  scholar  completed  his  rule, 
asserting  however  that  "adjectives  belong  to  nouns," 
and  not  to  "  lazy  fellows"  as  the  class  seemed  to  under- 
stand the  master  to  teach.  Word  after  word  was  passed 
in  this  way  (a  way  of  teaching  our  language,  which,  if 
we  could  know  it  had  been  practiced  at  the  erection  of 
Babel,  would  sufficiently  account  for  that  memorable 
confusion  of  tongues  without  the  intervention  of  a  mira- 
cle), till  the  teacher,  nearly  exhausted  by  this  strange 
combination  of  mental,  oral,  and  manual  labor,  very 
much  to  the  relief  of  all,  vociferated,  "That'll  do!" 
and  the  scene  was  changed. 

At  the  close  of  the  afternoon  we  were  told  that  "  it 
was  a  very  hard  school,  that  it  was  almost  impossible 
to  keep  order,  and  that  he  should  be  discouraged  were 
it  not  that  he  saw  a  manifest  improvement  within  a  few 
days  past ! " 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  205 

Now  this  teacher  made  the  school  what  it  was,  by  his 
own  manner.  He  would  have  done  the  same  in  any 
school.  He  taught  in  the  most  effectual  way  the  sci- 
ence and  art  of  confusion ;  and  notwithstanding  the 
hard  name  he  gave  his  school,  he  was  emphatically  the 
most  disorderly  and  noisy  member  of  it. 

There  was  a  change.  On  another  day,  accompanied 
by  the  same  friend,  we  presented  ourselves  at  the  door 
of  this  same  room  for  admittance.  We  heard  no  sound 
as  we  approached  the  entrance,  and  almost  began  to 
suspect  we  should  find  there  was  no  school  within.  We 
knocked ;  and  presently,  without  our  hearing  the  foot- 
step of  the  person  who  approached,  the  door  opened, 
and  we  passed  in.  The  children  looked  up  a  moment 
as  we  entered,  and  then  bent  their  eyes  upon  their  les- 
sons. The  teacher  softly  handed  us  seats,  and  then 
proceeded  with  the  recitation.  His  manner  was  quiet 
and  deliberate,  and  the  school  was  orderly  and  busy. 
He  had  no  rule  in  his  hand,  no  heavy  boots  on  his 
feet  (he  had  exchanged  them  for  slippers  on  entering 
the  school),  and  no  other  means  of  giving  emphasis  to 
his  words.  He  kindly  requested,  —  never  commanded, 
—  and  everything  seemed  to  present  the  strongest  con- 
trast with  the  former  scene.  The  hour  of  dismission 
arrived  and  the  scholars  quietly  laid  by  their  books, 
and  as  quietly  walked  out  of  the  house,  and  all  was 
still. 

"  How  have  you  secured  this  good  order  ? "  said  we 
to  the  teacher.  "  I  really  do  not  know,"  said  he  with 
a  smile,  "  I  have  said  nothing  about  order."  "But 
have  you  had  no  difficulty  with  noisy  scholars?"  "A 
little  at  first ;  but  in  a  day  or  two  they  seemed  to  become 
quiet,  and  we  have  not  been  troubled  since." 


206  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

Now  the  secret  was  that  this  latter  teacher  had 
learned  to  govern  himself.  His  own  manner  gave 
character  to  the  school.  So  it  will  ever  be.  A  man 
will  govern  more  by  his  manner  than  in  any  other 
way. 

There  is,  too,  such  a  thing  as  keeping  a  school  too 
still  by  over-government.  A  man  of  firm  nerve  can, 
by  keeping  up  a  constant  constraint  both  in  himself  and 
pupils,  force  a  deathlike  silence  upon  his  school.  You 
may  hear  a  pin  drop  at  any  time,  and  the  figure  of  every 
child  is  as  if  molded  in  cast  iron.  But,  be  it  remem- 
bered, this  is  the  stillness  of  constraint,  not  the  stillness 
of  activity.  It  is  an  unhealthy  state  both  of  body  and 
mind,  and  when  attained  by  the  most  vigilant  care  of 
the  teacher,  is  a  condition  scarcely  to  be  desired.  There 
should  be  silence  in  school,  a  serene  and  soothing  quiet ; 
but  it  should  if  possible  be  the  quiet  of  cheerfulness 
and  agreeable  devotion  to  study,  rather  than  the  "  palsy 
of  fear." 

Thus  far  I  have  confined  myself  to  those  qualifica- 
tions in  the  teacher,  and  to  those  means  which,  under 
ordinary  circumstances  and  in  most  districts,  would  in 
my  opinion  secure  good  order  in  our  schools.  With  the 
qualifications  I  have  described  in  the  mental  and  moral 
condition  of  the  teacher,  and  the  means  and  sugges- 
tions above  detailed  —  combined,  I  believe  a  very  large 
majority  of  our  schools  could  be  most  successfully 
governed  without  any  appeal  to  fear  or  force. 

But  as  some  schools  are  yet  in  a  very  bad  state, 
requiring  more  than  ordinary  talents  and  skill  to  control 
them ;  and  as  very  many  of  those  who  must  teach  for  a 
long  time  to  come  have  not  and  cannot  be  expected  to 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  207 

have  all  the  qualifications  described,  and  much  less  the 
moral  power  insisted  on,  it  is  unreasonable  to  expect, 
taking  human  nature  as  it  is,  and  our  teachers  as  they 
are,  that  all  can  govern  their  schools  without  some 
appeals  to  the  lower  motives  of  children,  and  some 
resort  to  coercion  as  an  instrumentality.  I  should  leave 
this  discussion  very  incomplete,  therefore,  were  I  not 
to  present  my  views  upon  the  subject  of 

SECTION    III. PUNISHMENTS 

As  a  great  deal  has  been  written  and  spoken  upon 
the  subject  of  school  punishments,  I  deem  it  important 
that  the  term,  as  I  intend  to  use  it,  should  be  defined  at 
the  outset.     I  submit  the  following  definition  : 

Punishment  is  pain  inflicted  upon  the  mind  or 
body  of  an  individual  by  the  authority  to  which 
HE  is  subject;  with  a  view  either  to  reform  him, 

OR  TO  DETER  OTHERS  FROM  THE  COMMISSION  OF  OF- 
FENSES, OR  BOTH. 

It  is  deemed  essential  to  the  idea  of  punishment  that 
the  inflictor  have  legitimate  authority  over  the  subject 
of  it,  —  otherwise  the  act  is  an  act  of  usurpation.  It  is 
also  essential  that  the  inflictor  should  have  a  legitimate 
object  in  view,  such  as  the  reformation  of  the  individual 
or  of  the  community  in  which  his  example  has  exerted 
an  influence,  —  otherwise  the  act  becomes  an  abuse  of 
power.  Infliction  for  the  purpose  of  retaliation  for  an 
insult  or  injury  is  not  punishment ;  it  is  revenge.  When- 
ever, therefore,  a  teacher  resorts  to  such  infliction  to 
gratify  his  temper,  or  to  pay  off,  as  it  is  expressed  in 
common  language,  the  bad  conduct  of  a  pupil,  without 
any  regard  to  his  reformation  or  the  prevention  of 
similar  offenses  in  the  school,  the  pain  he  inflicts  is  not 


208  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

punishment ;  it  is  cruelty.  Very  great  importance  is  to 
be  attached  to  the  motive  in  this  matter ;  because  the 
same  infliction  upon  the  same  individual  and  for  the 
same  offense,  either  may  be  just  and  proper  punish- 
ment, or  it  may  be  the  most  unjustifiable  and  revengeful 
abuse,  according  to  the  motive  of  the  inflictor. 

The  authority  to  inflict  punishment  in  general  is 
either  by  the  constitution  of  God  or  of  civil  society. 
"  The  punishment  of  the  faults  and  offenses  of  children 
by  the  parent,"  says  Dr.  Webster,  "is  by  virtue  of  the 
right  of  government  with  which  the  parent  is  invested 
by  God  himself.' '  The  right  to  punish  the  offenses  of 
children  while  at  school,  is  by  the  common  law  vested 
in  the  teacher,  as  the  representative  of  the  parent  for 
the  time  being.  It  is  the  declaration  of  this  law,  as 
interpreted  from  time  immemorial,  that  the  teacher  is 
in  loco  parentis  —  in  place  of  the  parent. 

Some  have  alleged  that  fear  and  shame,  the  two 
principles  addressed  by  punishment,  are  among  the 
lowest  in  our  nature ;  and  have  hence  endeavored  to 
show  that  punishment  is  always  inexpedient,  if  not 
indeed  always  wrong.  To  this  I  answer  that  both  fear 
and  shame  are  incorporated  in  our  nature  by  God  him- 
self ;  and  hence  I  infer  they  are  there  for  a  wise  pur- 
pose. I  find,  moreover,  that  God  himself,  in  his  word 
and  in  his  providence,  does  appeal  to  both  of  these 
principles  ;  and  hence  I  infer  that  punishment  in  the 
abstract  is  not  wrong,  and  after  the  higher  motives  have 
been  addressed  not  altogether  inexpedient. 

Living  in  a  community  as  we  do  where  the  right  of 
punishment  in  general  is  assumed  by  our  government, 
and  the  right  of  teachers  to  punish  is  conceded  by  our 
laws,  I  do  not  feel  called  upon  to  establish  the  right  by 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  209 

argument ;  I  shall  assume  that  the  teacher  has  the  right 
to'  punish  in  the  sense  in  which  I  have  defined  punish- 
ment,—  and  shall  therefore  proceed  to  consider  the 
various  kinds  of  punishments  used  in  our  schools,  and 
to  distinguish  those  which  are  justifiable  from  those 
which  are  not ;  and  also  to  consider  some  of  the  con- 
ditions and  limitations  of  their  use. 

In  preparing  the  way  to  do  this,  I  may  remark  that 
punishments  consist  of  two  classes:  1.  Those  which 
address  themselves  directly  to  the  mind ;  as  privation 
from  privileges,  loss  of  liberty,  degradation,  some  act 
of  humiliation,  reproof,  and  the  like.  2.  Those  which 
address  the  mind  through  the  bocly ;  as  the  imposition 
of  a  task  —  labor,  for  instance,  —  requiring  the  pupil  to 
take  some  painful  attitude,  inflicting  bodily  chastise- 
ment, etc. 

I  have  mentioned  these  two  classes  for  the  purpose 
of  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  are  those 
who  approve  of  the  first  class,  and  at  the  same  time 
denounce  the  second,  scouting  the  idea  of  reaching  the 
mind  through  the  senses  of  the  body.  This  seems  to 
me,  however,  to  indicate  a  want  of  attention  to  the  laws 
of  our  being ;  for  in  the  economy  of  nature  we  are 
made  at  every  point  sensitive  to  pain  as  a  mean^  of 
guarding  against  injury.  Why  has  the  Creator  studded 
the  entire  surface  of  our  bodies  with  the  extremities  of 
nerves  whose  function  is  to  carry  to  the  brain  with 
lightning  speed  the  intelligence  of  the  approach  of 
danger?  And  why  should  this  intelligence  be  trans- 
mitted, if  its  object  is  not  to  influence  the  will,  either 
to  withdraw  the  suffering  part  from  immediate  danger, 
or  to  avoid  those  objects  which  cause  the  pain?  The 
mind,  then,  by  the  economy  of  nature,  or  rather  by  the 

B.-P.    THE.    &   PR.   TEACHING — 14 


210  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

arrangement  of  God,  is  capable  of  being  influenced 
through  the  bodily  sensations;  and  those  who  deny 
this,  either  do  not  observe  attentively,  or,  observing,  do 
not  reason  fairly  as  to  the  laws  of  our  being.  With 
these  preliminary  observations,  I  now  proceed  to  con- 
sider 

I.  Improper  Punishments.  —  Some  punishments  are 
always  wrong,  or  at  least  always  inexpedient.  The  in- 
fliction of  them  either  implies  a  wrong  feeling  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher,  or  it  promises  no  wholesome  result 
on  the  part  of  the  pupil.  I  shall  mention  in  detail, 
I.  Those  that  from  their  nature  excite  the  feeling  in  the 
pupil  that  an  indignity  has  been  committed  against  his 
person.  No  man  is  ready  to  forgive  another  for  wring- 
ing his  nose.  There  is  almost  a  universal  sentiment 
that  this  organ  is  specially  exempted  from  such  insult. 
Nearly  the  same  feeling  exists  as  to  pinching  or  pulling 
the  ear,  or  twisting  the  hair,  or  snapping  the  forehead. 
Each  child  feels  that  these  parts  of  his  person  are  not 
to  be  trifled  with,  and  the  feeling  is  natural  and  proper. 
Now,  though  it  is  not  common  for  teachers  to  wring  the 
noses  of  their  pupils,  it  is  very  common  for  them  to  do 
each  of  the  other  things  enumerated.  I  have  often 
seen  such  punishments,  but  I  think  I  never  saw  any 
good  come  of  them.  The  pupil  always  looked  as  if  the 
teacher  had  done  despite  toward  his  person.  When- 
ever I  have  seen  the  teacher  twist  the  locks  of  a  child's 
hair  about  his  finger  till  the  tears  would  start  in  the  eye, 
I  have  supposed  the  feelings  called  forth  were  anything 
but  desirable,  —  anything  but  favorable  to  reformation. 
A  pupil  must  love  his  teacher  very  strongly  to  be  able 
to  keep  his  temper  from  rising  under  such  circum- 
stances;  and  there  is  great   doubt  whether  either  of 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  211 

these  punishments  does  anything  to  secure  cheerful 
obedience  in  the  child  one  time  in  a  hundred;  prob- 
ably in  ninety-nine  cases  in  the  hundred  the  evil  pas- 
sions are  very  much  strengthened  by  them.  Besides, 
these  are  undignified  modes  of  punishment.  They 
savor  so  much  of  a  weak  and  childish  impatience  that 
the  pupils  find  it  hard  to  respect  a  man,  much  more  to 
love  him,  who  will  stoop  to  so  small  a  way  of  giving 
vent  to  his  angry  feelings.  Snapping  the  forehead  is 
subject  to  strong  physiological  objections;  and,  as  a 
general  rule,  the  head  and  its  appurtenances  should  be 
exempted  from  penal  violence. 

In  this  place  I  may  very  properly  allude  to  another 
mode  of  assailing  the  ears  of  children,  quite  as  undig- 
nified in  itself  and  quite  as  unprofitable  in  its  results  as 
pulling  them,  —  and  until  they  are  hardened  to  it  by 
familiarity,  probably  more  painful.  I  refer,  I  need  not 
say,  to  scolding.  This  is  a  punishment  altogether  too 
common.  There  is  a  physiological  law  that  the  exer- 
cise of  any  organ  will  give  it  greater  strength  and  gener- 
ally greater  celerity.  From  this  fact,  and  the  additional 
one  that  the  more  a  child  is  scolded  the  harder  his 
heart  becomes,  so  that  here,  as  in  the  Rule  of  Three, 
"more  requires  more/'  —  it  follows  that  those  whotfrice 
begin  to  scold,  are  fortunate  if  they  stop  short  of  high 
attainments  in  the  art. 

There  is  no  enterprise  in  which  the  investment  yields 
so  small  a  profit  as  in  the  business  of  scolding.  It  is 
really  pitiable  to  witness  the  teacher  given  to  this 
practice,  making  himself  and  all  around  him  unhappy, 
without  the  hope  of  alleviation.  The  command  of  the 
tongue  is  a  great  virtue  in  a  teacher;  and  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  very  many  children  still  suffer  in  thdr  moral 


212  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

feelings  x  as  well  as  their  ears,  because  so  many  teach- 
ers do  not  seasonably  learn  the  right  control  of  the 
"  unruly  member." 

While  upon  this  subject  I  may  allude  to  another  very 
objectionable  mode  of  address  practiced  by  some  teach- 
ers toward  their  schools.  I  refer  to  a  mixture  of  scold- 
ing with  a  species  of  low  wit  or  cockney  blackguardism, 
that  should  ever  be  banished  from  the  schoolroom. 
Such  expressions  as  "  Sit  down,  John,  or  I'll  shiver 
your  top-timbers"  —  "  Attend  to  your  studies,  or  some 
of  you  will  be  a  head  shorter"  —  "  Keep  quiet,  or  you'll 
hear  thunder,"  —  and  the  like.  To  these  I  might  add 
those  empty  and  debasing  threats  which  are  too  often 
and  too  thoughtlessly  uttered;  as,  "I'll  skin  you  alive," 
or  "I'll  shake  you  to  pieces,"  or  "I'll  use  you  up,"  — 
with  others  of  the  same  character.  I  perhaps  ought  to 
beg  pardon  for  placing  these  vulgarisms  before  the 
general  reader ;  but  they  are  so  frequently  employed 
in  our  schools,  in  some  of  our  schools  of  good  repute 
too,  that  I  thought  it  to  be  my  duty  to  quote  them  (for 
they  are  all  literal  quotations),  in  order  if  possible  to  aid 
those  who  have  fallen  into  such  a  low  habit  to  see  them- 
selves as  others  see  them. 

It  is  so  very  easy  for  a  teacher  to  raise  a  laugh  among 
his  pupils,  that  he  is  in  danger  of  being  seduced  into 
the  use  of  coarse  and  quaint  expressions  by  the  suppo- 
sition that  they  are  witty.  But  the  mirth  of  schoolboys 
is  not  a  more  reliable  criterion  of  wit  in  the  modern 
teacher  than  it  was  in  the  case  of  the  schoolmaster 

1  A  blacksmith,  it  is  said,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  scold  his  family 
quite  too  freely,  was  one  day  attempting  to  harden  a  piece  of  steel ;  but 
failing  after  two  or  three  attempts,  his  little  son,  who  had  been  an  observer 
of  this  as  well  as  other  operations  of  his  father,  is  said  to  have  exclaimed: 
"  Scold  it,  father ,  scold  it.     If  that  worCt  harden  it,  nothing  else  will" 


SCHOOL   GOVERNMENT  213 

described  by  Goldsmith ;  and  possibly  the  exercise  of  a 
little  discernment  on  his  part  would  convince  him  that 
children  sometimes  laugh,  as  they  did  of  old,  because 
they  think  it  prudent  to  do  so, 

"A  man  severe  he  was  and  stern  to  view, 
I  knew  him  well,  and  every  truant  knew ; 
Well  had  the  boding  tremblers  learned  to  trace 
The  day's  disasters  in  his  morning  face ; 
Full  well  they  laughed,  with  counterfeited  glee. 
At  all  his  jokes,  for  many  a  joke  had  he." 

It  is  unquestionably  true  that  there  are  schools  and 
many  such,  now  of  high  standing,  the  language  of 
whose  teachers,  could  it  be  noted  down  and  printed  for 
the  parents,  would  perfectly  astonish  them ;  and  such 
is  the  force  of  habit,  it  would  very  likely  astonish  the 
teachers  themselves.  Let  all  who  mean  to  respect 
themselves,  or  who  desire  to  be  long  respected  by 
others,  most  carefully  avoid  the  first  approach  to  the 
use  of  such  kinds  of  language.  Its  influence  in  school 
is  "only  evil,  and  that  continually.,, 

2.  Those  punishments  that  from  their  nature  imply 
in  the  inflictor  a  love  of  prolonged  torture.  These  are 
quite  numerous  and  are  resorted  to  often  for  the  pur- 
pose of  avoiding  what  is  usually  deemed  severe  punish- 
ment. Some  of  them  also  have  very  serious  physiological 
objections.  As  an  instance,  I  may  mention  the  holding 
of  a  weight  at  arm's  length  until  the  muscles  of  the 
arm  become  painful  from  overexertion  and  fatigue. 
Sometimes  the  Bible,  being  the  largest  book  at  hand,  is 
chosen  as  the  weight ;  and  thus  that  book  which  should 
have  no  associations  connected  with  it  in  the  minds  of 
the  young  but  those  of  reverence  and  love,  is  made  the 
instrument  of  torture  —  the  minister  of  cruelty  ! 


214  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

Imagine  that  you  see — what  I  have  seen  —  an  offend- 
ing boy  called  to  the  teacher's  desk,  and,  after  words  of 
reproach,  sentenced  to  hold  the  large  Bible  at  arm's 
length  for  a  specified  time,  or  until  the  teacher  is  will- 
ing to  release  him.  At  first  it  is  raised  with  a  smile 
of  triumph,  almost  a  smile  of  contempt.  Soon  the 
muscles  thus  exerted  at  disadvantage  begin  to  be  weary 
and  to  relax.  "  Hold  it  up !  "  exclaims  the  vigilant 
teacher ;  and  it  is  again  brought  to  its  position.  Sooner 
than  before  the  muscles  are  fatigued,  and  they  almost 
refuse  to  obey  the  mandate  of  the  willy  which  itself  is 
half  zvilling  to  rebel  against  authority  so  unreasonable. 
"  Up  with  it !  "  —  again  brings  it  to  its  place,  or  perhaps 
a  stroke  of  the  rattan  repeats  the  command  with  more 
urgency.  At  this  moment  every  nerve  sympathizes, 
and  the  muscles  are  urged  on  to  their  greatest  effort. 
The  limb  is  in  agony,  —  and  what  agony  can  surpass 
that  of  an  overstrained  muscle  ?  —  and  the  whole  system 
reels  and  writhes  with  suffering.  Now  look  into  that 
child's  face  and  tell  me  what  is  the  moral  effect  of  this 
sort  of  punishment?  Unless  he  is  one  of  the  most 
amiable  of  the  sons  of  Adam,  he  inwardly  curses  the 
cruelty  that  he  thinks  is  delighted  with  pangs  like  these, 
protracted  yet  intolerable.  He  almost  curses  the  blessed 
book  which  was  given  to  warm  his  soul  into  life  and 
immortality.  He  cries  with  pain,  but  not  with  peni- 
tence. He  may  submit,  indeed,  and  he  may  abstain 
from  similar  offenses  in  time  to  come  ;  but  it  is  the  sub- 
mission of  self-preservation,  and  the  abstinence  of  an  eye- 
servant,  —  while  the  stain  that  has  thus  been  inwrought 
in  his  moral  sensibilities  may  long  remain  unexpunged. 
Such  a  punishment  I  unhesitatingly  pronounce  to  be 
improper,  whatever  may  be  the  circumstances. 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  21 5 

Akin  to  this  are  those  other  contrivances  to  give 
prolonged  pain  which  in  different  parts  of  the  country- 
have  taken  a  variety  of  forms,  and  as  great  a  variety  of 
names.  One  of  these  has  been  termed  "holding  a  nail 
into  the  floor."  It  consists  in  requiring  the  pupil  to 
bend  forward,  —  and,  placing  the  end  of  a  single  finger 
upon  the  head  of  a  nail,  to  remain  in  that  position  till 
the  whole  system  is  agonized.  Another  has  by  some 
of  its  inflictors  been  termed  "  sitting  on  nothing."  The 
pupil  is  required  to  place  his  back  against  a  wall  of  the 
room,  and  his  feet  perhaps  a  foot  from  its  base,  and 
then  to  slide  his  body  down  till  the  knees  are  bent  at 
right  angles,  and  his  person  is  in  a  sitting  posture  with- 
out a  seat !  The  muscles,  acting  over  the  knee  at  the 
greatest  disadvantage,  are  now  made  to  support  the 
body  in  that  position  during  the  pleasure  of  the  teacher. 
I  have  seen  another  mode  of  punishment  practiced,  and 
as  I  have  heard  no  name  for  it  I  shall  give  it  the  cog- 
nomen of  "  sitting  on  worse  than  nothing."  The  boy 
in  this  case  was  required  to  sit  upon  the  floor,  and  then, 
placing  the  feet  upon  a  bench  or  chair,  to  support  the 
body  in  an  erect  position  by  reversed  action  of  the 
muscles ! 

But  I  gladly  turn  away  from  a  description  of  the 
punishments  I  have  witnessed  in  the  common  schools 
of  New  England  within  a  quarter  of  a  century,  ex- 
hibiting as  they  do  so  many  characteristics  of  the  dark 
ages.  Some  of  these  I  have  witnessed  quite  recently ; 
and  to  what  extent  any  or  all  of  them  are  now  in  use,  I 
am  unable  to  say.  I  only  desire  to  say,  that  they  are 
all  improper,  —  debasing  to  the  morals  of  the  pupils, 
and  degrading  to  the  profession  of  the  teacher;  and 
the  sooner  such  punishments  are  entirely  banished  from 


2l6  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

our  schoolrooms,  the  sooner  will  the  profession  of  the 
teacher  rise  to  its  proper  level. 

3.  Ridicule.  This  is  a  weapon  that  should  not  be 
wielded  as  a  school  punishment.  It  often  cuts  deeper 
than  he  who  uses  it  imagines ;  and  it  usually  gives  most 
pain  where  it  is  least  merited.  Some  physical  defect, 
or  some  mental  incapacity,  or  eccentricity,  is  most  fre- 
quently made  the  subject  of  it ;  and  yet  nothing  can  be 
more  unfeeling  or  more  unjust  than  its  use  in  such 
cases.  If  the  designed  failings  of  the  indolent,  or  the 
premeditated  mischief  of  the  vicious,  could  be  subjected 
to  its  influence,  its  use  would  be  more  allowable,  —  but 
even  then  it  would  be  questionable.  But  the  indolent 
and  vicious  are  usually  unaffected  by  ridicule.  They 
sin  upon  calculation,  and  not  without  counting  the  cost; 
and  they  are  therefore  very  willing  to  risk  their  reputation 
where  they  have  so  little  to  lose.  It  is  the  modest,  the 
conscientious,  the  well-meaning  child,  that  is  most  affected 
by  ridicule ;  yet  it  is  such  a  one  that,  for  various  reasons, 
is  oftenest  made  the  subject  of  it,  though  above  all 
others  his  feelings  should  be  most  tenderly  spared. 

A  strong  objection  to  the  use  of  ridicule  is  the  feeling 
which  it  induces  between  the  teacher  and  pupil.  The 
teacher,  conscious  that  he  has  injured  the  feelings  of  the 
child,  will  find  it  hard  to  love  him  afterward ;  for  we 
seldom  love  those  whom  we  have  injured.  The  child, 
on  the  other  hand,  loses  confidence  in  his  teacher;  he 
feels  that  his  sensibilities  hare  been  outraged  before  his 
companions,  and  that  the  teacher,  who  should  be  his 
best  friend  in  the  school,  has  invited  the  heartless  laugh 
of  his  fellow-pupils  against  him.  With  the  want  of  love 
on  the  one  hand,  and  of  confidence  on  the  other,  what 
further  usefulness  can  reasonably  be  expected  ? 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  21 7 

But  the  strongest  objection  of  all  to  the  use  of  ridicule 
is  the  fact  that  it  calls  forth  the  worst  of  feelings  in  the 
school.  Those  who  participate  in  the  laugh  thus  ex- 
cited are  under  the  influence  of  no  very  amiable  motives. 
And  when  this  is  carried  so  far  as  to  invite,  by  direct 
words,  some  expression  from  the  schoolmates,  by  point- 
ing the  finger  of  shame,  and  perhaps  accompanying  the 
act  by  a  hiss  of  scorn,  the  most  deplorable  spirit  of 
self-righteousness  is  cultivated. 

Little  Mary  one  day  was  detected  in  a  wrong  act  by 
her  teacher.  "  Mary,  come  here,"  said  the  teacher, 
sternly.  Little  thinking  she  had  been  seen  she  obeyed 
promptly,  and  stood  by  the  chair  of  her  teacher,  who, 
without  giving  Mary  time  to  reflect,  and  thus  allow  the 
conscience  opportunity  to  gain  the  mastery,  immediately 
asked,  "  What  naughty  thing  did  I  see  you  do  just 
now?"  " Nothing,"  said  Mary,  partly  disposed  to 
justify  herself,  and  partly  doubting  whether  indeed  the 
teacher  had  seen  her  do  anything  wrong.  "  Oh,  Mary, 
Mary,  who  would  think  you  would  tell  me  a  lie !  Did 
you  ever  hear  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira?"  Here  a 
lecture  followed  on  the  sin  and  danger  of  lying,  and 
particularly  the  danger  of  sudden  death  by  the  ven- 
geance of  God.  Mary  began  to  tremble  and  then  to 
weep,  probably  from  terror.  Now  came  the  second 
part.  "  I  should  think  you  would  be  ashamed  to  be 
known  to  lie.  All  the  children  now  know  that  you 
have  lied.  I  should  think  they  would  feel  ashamed  of 
such  a  naughty  little  girl  in  the  school.  I  should  not 
wonder,"  she  continued,  "if  all  the  little  girls  and  boys 
sJiould  point  their  fingers  at  you  and  hiss.'9  In  an 
instant  all  the  children  who  were  not  too  old  to  be 
disgusted  with  the  management  and  tone  of  the  teacher 


2l8  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

pointed  their  fingers  and  uttered  a  long  succession  of 
hisses,  while  their  faces  beamed  with  all  the  compla- 
cency of  self-righteousness,  triumphing  over  the  fall  of 
a  companion,  who  perhaps  was  after  all  as  good  and 
as  truthful  a  child  as  any  of  them.  The  poor  child  at 
first  turned  her  back  upon  them ;  but  soon,  feeling  that 
her  reputation  was  gone,  she  turned,  as  woman  ever 
will  when  her  self-respect  is  blighted,  with  a  look  of 
indifference,  almost  a  look  of  defiance.  Fear  was  first 
swallowed  up  in  shame,  and  shame  gave  place  to  reck- 
less audacity.  The  whole  scene  was  rendered  still  more 
ruinous  to  the  child  from  the  fact  that  it  took  place  in 
the  presence  of  visitors  ! 

When  will  our  teachers  learn  the  human  heart  well 
enough  to  be  able  to  distinguish  between  a  work  of 
devastation  and  of  true  culture;  between  a  process  of 
blighting  the  sensibilities,  searing  the  conscience,  freez- 
ing up  the  fountains  of  sympathy  and  of  mutual  love 
and  confidence,  —  and  a  course  of  training  \yhich  warms 
the  conscience  into  activity,  inculcates  the  reverence 
and  love  of  God,  instead  of  a  slavish  fear  of  His  power, 
and  instills  into  the  soul  a  desire  to  do  right,  rather  than 
to  do  that  which  will  avoid  the  reproach  of  an  unfeel- 
ing multitude,  more  wicked  than  those  they  censure  ? 
Goldsmith  has  shown  that  woman  may  "  stoop  to  con- 
quer "  ;  but  the  above  narrative  shows  how  she  may 
stoop,  not  to  conquer,  but  to  lay  waste  the  youthful 
heart. 

These  punishments,  and  such  as  these,  which  I  have 
classed  under  the  list  of  improper  punishments,  should 
all  be  carefully  considered  by  the  teacher.  They  should 
be  considered  before  he  enters  his  school.  It  would  be 
well  always  for  him  to  determine  beforehand  what  pun- 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  219 

ishments  he  will  not  use.  It  may  save  him  many  a  seri- 
ous mistake.  I  have  written  what  I  have  under  this 
head  in  order  to  put  teachers  upon  thought ;  believing 
that  men  seldom  earnestly  and  honestly  inquire,  with- 
out arriving  at  the  truth  in  the  end. 

II.  Proper  Punishments.  —  Every  teacher's  mind 
should,  if  possible,  be  settled  as  to  what  punishments 
are  proper,  so  that  when  they  are  inflicted,  it  can  be 
done  in  good  faith  and  with  an  honest  conviction  of 
the  performance  of  duty.  Among  the  proper  punish- 
ments, I  may  mention : 

1.  Kind  Reproof.  This  will  probably  be  conceded 
by  all.  I  say  kind  reproof,  because  no  other  reproof 
can  be  useful.  I  would  distinguish  it  from  reproach. 
Reproof,  judiciously  administered,  is  one  of  the  most 
effectual  punishments  that  can  be  used.  As  a  general 
rule  this  is  best  administered  privately.  The  child's 
spirit  of  obstinacy  is  very  likely  to  exhibit  itself  in  the 
presence  of  his  fellows ;  but  in  private  the  conscience 
is  free  to  act,  and  the  child  very  readily  submits.  It 
is  always  perfectly  safe  to  reprove  privately ;  that  is, 
not  in  the  presence  of  the  school.  The  child  has  no 
motive  to  misrepresent  the  teacher ;  and  if  the  teacher 
so  far  spares  the  reputation  of  the  pupil  as  to  take 
him  by  himself,  this  very  circumstance  will  often  give 
the  teacher  access  to  his  better  feelings. 

2.  Loss  of  Privileges.  By  abuse  of  privileges  we 
forfeit  them.  This  is  a  law  of  Providence.  It  is  un- 
questionably proper  that  this  should  be  a  law  of  our 
schools.  All  those  offenses,  therefore,  against  pro- 
priety in  the  exercise  of  any  privilege  may  be  attended 
with  a  temporary  or  permanent  deprivation  of  such 
privilege.     A   pupil   who   is   boisterous  at  the   recess, 


220         THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

disturbing  the  quiet  of  the  school  or  impeding  the  en- 
joyment of  his  playfellows,  may  be  deprived  of  the 
recess.  A  child  who  disfigures  his  seat  with  his  knife 
may  be  deprived  of  his  knife,  and  so  for  any  other 
similar  offense.  Some  consider  it  proper  to  extend  this 
punishment  to  other  classes  of  offenses,  as,  for  example, 
whispering  or  idleness.  While  I  would  not  deny  the 
right  or*  the  propriety  of  doing  so,  I  should  think  it 
more  expedient  not  thus  to  extend  it.  It  is  well,  as 
far  as  it  can  be  done,  so  to  punish  the  child  that  he 
shall  see  that  his  conduct  naturally  leads  to  its  punish- 
ment as  a  consequence.  And  it  is  moreover  very  prob- 
able that  in  most  schools  there  will  be  demand  enough 
for  this  punishment,  in  its  natural  application,  without 
extending  it  to  other  cases. 

3.  Restraint,  or  confinement.  When  liberty  is  abused 
a  scholar  may  be  put  under  restraint.  When  duty  is 
violated  and  the  rights  of  others  are  wantonly  disre- 
garded, confinement  will  afford  time  for  reflection,  and 
at  the  same  time  relieve  others  from  the  annoyance 
and  detriment  of  evil  example.  Such  restraint  is  often 
a  wholesome  discipline;  and  confinement,  if  it  be  not 
too  far  protracted,  is  always  safe.  It  should  be  re- 
marked, however,  that  confinement  in  a  dark  apartment 
should  never  be  resorted  to  by  any  teacher.  There  are 
insuperable  objections  to  it,  growing  out  of  the  fears 
which  many  children  early  entertain  of  being  alone  in 
the  dark,  as  also  the  fact  that  light  as  well  as  air  is 
necessary  to  the  vigorous  action  of  the  nervous  system 
during  the  waking  hours,  especially  in  the  daytime.  It 
is  well  known  that  a  child  shut  up  in  a  dark  room  even 
in  the  warmth  of  summer  speedily  undergoes  a  depres- 
sion of  temperature ;  and  if  the  confinement  is  unduly 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  221 

protracted,  cold  chills  come  over  the  system.  For  these 
reasons,  and  others,  if  confinement  is  ever  used  as  a 
punishment,  it  should  be  in  a  room  properly  lighted 
and  heated.  Our  prisoners  enjoy,  as  far  as  may  be, 
both  of  these  favors. 

4.  Humiliation.  This  should  be  resorted  to  with 
great  caution.  When  a  fault  has  been  openly  com- 
mitted, and  attended  with  circumstances  of  peculiar 
obstinacy,  it  may  sometimes  very  properly  be  required 
of  the  offender  that  he  should  confess  the  fault  in  a 
manner  as  public  as  its  commission.  This  may  be  due 
to  the  school.  Sometimes  when  an  offensive  act  is 
very  strongly  marked,  a  confession  and  a  request  for 
the  forgiveness  of  the  teacher  or  the  individual  injured 
may  be  made  a  condition  of  restoration  to  favor.  This 
is  usually  considered  a  very  proper  punishment.  I 
would  however  suggest  that  it  be  used  with  great  care, 
and  never  unless  the  circumstances  imperatively  de- 
mand it.  It  may  be  the  means  of  cultivating  the  gross- 
est hypocrisy,  or  of  inducing  open  rebellion ;  and  it 
sometimes  gives  the  other  pupils  an  advantage  over 
the  culprit  which  may  do  him  personally  much  harm. 
The  teacher  should  be  convinced  that  this  is  the  best 
thing  he  can  do  before  he  resorts  to  it. 

5.  The  imposition  of  a  task.  In  every  school  there 
is  more  or  less  work  to  be  done ;  such  as  sweeping  the 
floors,  washing  the  benches,  preparing  the  fuel,  and 
making  the  fires.  Unless  objection  should  be  made  by 
parents,  this  is  one  of  the  most  effectual  punishments, 
especially  in  cities  and  large  villages,  where  work  is  a 
burden,  and  the  attractions  of  play  are  most  powerful. 
Some  difficult  schools  have  been  governed  for  months 
with  no  other  punishment  than   labor   thus   imposed. 


222  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

The  plan  is,  that  if  two  boys  neglect  their  studies  so  as 
to  attract  the  attention  of  the  teacher,  they  shall  be 
nominated  as  members  of  the  committee  on  sweeping, 
—  a  duty  to  be  performed  after  school  hours.  If  one 
or  two  more  are  decidedly  disorderly,  they  shall  be  re- 
quired to  make  fires,  bring  up  wood,  or  perhaps  wash  a 
certain  portion  of  the  room.  This  is  always  assigned 
pleasantly  by  the  teacher,  with  the  understanding,  how- 
ever, that  any  failure  to  do  the  allotted  work  thoroughly 
and  faithfully,  will  be  attended  with  a  reappointment  till 
the  object  is  secured. 

If  parents  should  object  to  this  it  is  not  absolutely 
essential  to  the  teacher's  success ;  but  where  no  objec- 
tion is  made,  if  judiciously  managed,  it  may  do  very 
much  in  many  of  our  schools  toward  producing  that 
quiet  order  which  otherwise  it  might  require  more  co- 
gent and  less  agreeable  means  to  secure. 

It  has  sometimes  been  urged  as  an  objection  to  this 
mode  of  punishment,  that  it  would  tend  to  attach  the 
idea  of  disgrace  to  useful  labor.  It  is  conceived  that 
this  is  by  no  means  the  necessary  consequence.  On 
the  other  hand  it  would  serve  to  teach  the  difference 
there  always  is  between  a  duty  imposed  and  one  volun- 
tarily undertaken.  The  same  objection  would  apply  to 
our  prison  discipline,  where  a  man  by  a  willful  disregard 
of  law  and  the  rights  of  others  very  justly  forfeits  his 
services  for  a  time  to  the  state.  I  would  not  lay  very 
much  stress  upon  this  mode  of  punishment,  though  I  have 
known  it  resorted  to  under  favorable  circumstances  with 
very  good  effect.  It  would  of  course  be  more  effectual 
in  a  large  town  or  city  than  in  the  country,  where  boys 
are  in  the  habit  of  laboring  at  home,  and  would  be 
quite  as  willing  to  labor  after  regular  hours  at  school. 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  223 

6.  Actual  chastisement  with  the  rod  of  correction.  I 
have  no  hesitation  (though  others  have)  in  placing  this 
among  the  class  of  proper  punishments.  As  this  in- 
volves a  great  question  on  the  subject  of  school  gov- 
ernment, and  one  that  is  debated  with  great  zeal  and 
warmth  in  almost  every  educational  meeting  that  is 
held,  I  shall  feel  justified  in  giving  a  little  more  space 
to  the  consideration  of  it. 

SECTION    IV.  —  CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT 

I  am  aware  that  when  I  enter  this  field  I  am  treading 
on  ground  every  inch  of  which  has  been  disputed.  I 
come  to  the  task  of  writing  on  this  subject,  however,  I 
think,  without  prejudice  or  asperity.  Having  nothing 
to  conceal,  I  shall  express  my  own  views  honestly  and 
frankly,  —  views  which  I  entertain  after  diligently  seek- 
ing the  truth  for  some  twenty  years,  during  which  time 
I  have  listened  to  a  great  deal  of  discussion,  and  have 
read  carefully  and  candidly  whatever  has  been  written 
by  others.  Nor  do  I  expect  to  give  universal  satisfac- 
tion. There  are  strong  men,  and  I  believe  honest  men, 
who  run  to  the  opposite  extremes  in  their  doctrine  and 
practice,  and  who  defend  the  one  course  or  the  other  as 
if  the  existence  of  the  world  depended  upon  the  issue. 
There  are  those  who  not  only  claim  the  right  to  chas- 
tise, but  who  insist  that  whipping  should  be  the  first 
resort  of  the  teacher  in  establishing  his  authority ;  and 
to  show  that  this  is  not  a  dormant  article  of  their  faith, 
they  daily  and  almost  hourly  demonstrate  their  effi- 
ciency in  the  use  of  the  rod,  so  that  their  pupils  may 
be  living  witnesses  that  they  act  in  accordance  with 
their  creed.  Again,  there  are  others  who  as  earnestly 
deny  the  right  of  the  teacher  to  resort  to  the  rod  at  all, 


224  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

and  who  urge  with  all  their  power  the  efficacy  of  moral 
suasion  to  subdue  and  control  the  vicious  and  the  stub- 
born in  our  schools;  and  who  are  ready  to  assert  un- 
equivocally that  no  man  is  fit  to  be  employed  to  teach 
the  young  who  has  not  the  ability  to  govern  all  the  vari- 
ous dispositions  he  may  meet  in  any  school,  without  the 
use  of  corporal  punishment. 

I  have  no  disposition  to  question  the  sincerity  and 
honesty  of  each  of  these  classes,  knowing  as  I  do  that 
different  men  see  with  different  eyes,  even  when  the 
circumstances  are  the  same ;  much  more  when  their 
circumstances  are  widely  diverse.  I  have  no  bitterness 
of  language  to  apply  to  those  who  go  to  the  extreme  of 
severity ;  nor  any  sneer  to  bestow  upon  the  name  of 
"moral  suasionist."  But  while  I  accord  to  other  men 
the  right  of  expressing  their  own  opinions,  I  claim  the 
same  privilege  for  myself,  —  yet  without  wishing  to  ob- 
trude my  opinions  upon  other  men  any  further  than 
they  will  bear  the  test  of  reason  and  experience. 

It  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  the  teacher  must  estab- 
lish authority  in  some  way,  before  he  can  pursue  success- 
fully the  objects  of  his  school,  I  have  described  the 
qualifications  which  the  teacher  should  possess  in  order 
to  govern  well,  and  I  have  also  given  some  of  the  means 
of  securing  good  order  without  a  resort  to  severity. 
Probably  in  a  large  majority  of  our  schools  the  teacher 
with  these  qualifications  and  the  employment  of  these 
means,  could  succeed  in  establishing  and  maintaining 
good  order  without  any  such  resort.  This  should,  in 
my  opinion,  always  be  done,  if  possible,  —  and  no  one 
will  rejoice  more  than  myself  to  see  the  day,  should 
that  day  ever  come,  when  teachers  shall  be  so  much 
improved  as  to  be  able  to  do  this  universally.     But  in 


sjr   tux 

UNIVERSITY 

SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT 

^CALIFO! 

writing  on  this  subject  it  is  the  dictate  of  common  sense 
to,  take  human  nature  as  it  is  and  human  teachers  as 
they  are,  and  as  many  of  them  must  be  for  some  time 
to  come,  —  and  adapt  our  directions  to  the  circum- 
stances. Human  nature,  as  it  is  exhibited  in  our  chil- 
dren, is  far  from  being  perfect ;  and  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  the  parents  of  our  children  often  exhibit  it  in  a  still 
less  flattering  light.  Perhaps  no  language  of  mine  can 
so  well  represent  the  concurrence  of  circumstances  mak- 
ing corporal  punishment  necessary  in  our  schools  as  it 
has  been  done  by  the  Hon.  Horace  Mann  in  his  lecture 
on  " School  Punishments."  "The  first  point,"  says  he, 
"which  I  shall  consider,  is,  whether  corporal  punish- 
ment is  ever  necessary  in  our  schools.  As  preliminary 
to  a  decision  of  this  question,  let  us  take  a  brief  survey 
of  facts.  We  have  in  this  commonwealth  [Massa- 
chusetts] above  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  thousand 
children,  bet  ween  the  ages  of  four  and  sixteen  years. 
All  these  children  are  not  only  legally  entitled  to  at- 
tend our  public  schools,  but  it  is  our  great  desire  to 
increase  that  attendance,  and  he  who  increases  it  is 
regarded  a  reformer.  All  that  portion  of  these  chil- 
dren who  attend  school,  enter  it  from  that  vast  variety 
of  homes  which  exist  in  the  state.  From  different 
households,  where  the  wildest  diversity  of  parental  and 
domestic  influences  prevails,  the  children  enter  the 
schoolroom,  where  there  must  be  comparative  uniform- 
ity. At  home  some  of  these  children  have  been  in- 
dulged in  every  wish,  flattered  and  smiled  upon  for  the 
energies  of  their  low  propensities,  and  even  their  freaks 
and  whims  enacted  into  household  laws.  Some  have 
been  so  rigorously  debarred  from  every  innocent  amuse- 
ment and  indulgence,  that  they  have  opened  for  them- 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING —  1 5 


226  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

selves  a  way  to  gratification  through  artifice  and 
treachery  and  falsehood.  Others  from  vicious  parental 
example,  and  the  corrupting  influences  of  vile  associ- 
ates, have  been  trained  to  bad  habits  and  contaminated 
with  vicious  principles  ever  since  they  were  born ;  — 
some  being  taught  that  honor  consists  in  whipping  a 
boy  larger  than  themselves ;  others  that  the  chief  end 
of  man  is  to  own  a  box  that  cannot  be  opened,  and  to 
get  money  enough  to  fill  it;  and  others  again  have  been 
taught  upon  their  father's  knees  to  shape  their  young 
lips  to  the  utterance  of  oaths  and  blasphemy.  Now  all 
these  dispositions,  which  do  not  conflict  with  right  more 
than  they  do  with  each  other,  as  soon  as  they  cross  the 
threshold  of  the  schoolroom,  from  the  different  worlds, 
as  it  were,  of  homes,  must  be  made  to  obey  the  same 
general  regulations,  to  pursue  the  same  studies,  and  to 
aim  at  the  same  results.  In  addition  to  these  artificial 
varieties,  there  are  natural  differences  of  temperament 
and  disposition. 

"Again;  there  are  about  three  thousand  public 
schools  in  the  state,  in  which  are  employed  in  the 
course  of  the  year  about  five  thousand  different  per- 
sons, as  teachers,  including  both  males  and  females. 
Excepting  a  very  few  cases,  these  five  thousand  persons 
have  had  no  special  preparation  or  training  for  their 
employment,  and  many  of  them  are  young  and  without 
experience.  These  five  thousand  teachers,  then,  so 
many  of  whom  are  unprepared,  are  to  be  placed  in  au- 
thority over  the  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  thousand 
children,  so  many  of  whom  have  been  perverted.  With- 
out passing  through  any  transition  state  for  improve- 
ment, these  parties  meet  each  other  in  the  schoolroom, 
where   mutiny   and   insubordination    and    disobedience 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  227 

are  to  be  repressed,  order  maintained,  knowledge  ac- 
quired. He,  therefore,  who  denies  the  necessity  of 
resorting  to  punishment  in  our  schools,  —  and  to  cor- 
poral punishment,  too,  —  virtually  affirms  two  things  : 
first,  that  this  great  number  of  children,  scooped  up 
from  all  places,  taken  at  all  ages  and  in  all  conditions, 
can  be  deterred  from  the  wrong  and  attracted  to  the 
right  without  punishment ;  and  secondly,  he  asserts 
that  the  five  thousand  persons  whom  the  towns  and 
districts  employ  to  keep  their  respective  schools,  are 
now,  and  in  the  present  condition  of  things,  able  to  ac- 
complish so  glorious  a  work.  Neither  of  these  propo- 
sitions am  I  at  present  prepared  to  admit.  If  there 
are  extraordinary  individuals  —  and  we  know  there  are 
such  —  so  singularly  gifted  with  talent  and  resources 
and  with  the  divine  quality  of  love  that  they  can  win 
the  affection,  and,  by  controlling  the  heart,  can  control 
the  conduct  of  children  who  for  years  have  been 
addicted  to  lie,  to  cheat,  to  swear,  to  steal,  to  fight,  still 
I  do  not  believe  there  are  now  five  thousand  such 
individuals  in  the  state  whose  heavenly  services  can  be 
obtained  for  this  transforming  work.  And  it  is  useless, 
or  worse  than  useless  to  say,  that  such  or  such  a  thing 
can  be  done,  and  done  immediately,  without  pointing 
out  the  agents  by  whom  it  can  be  done.  One  who 
affirms  that  a  thing  can  be  done,  without  any  reference 
to  the  persons  who  can  do  it,  must  be  thinking  of 
miracles.  If  the  position  were  that  children  may  be 
so  educated  from  their  birth,  and  teachers  may  be  so 
trained  for  their  calling  as  to  supersede  the  necessity 
of  corporal  punishment,  except  in  cases  decidedly 
monstrous,  then  I  should  have  no  doubt  of  its  truth ; 
but  such  a  position  must  have  reference  to  some  future 


228  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

period,  which  we  should  strive  to  hasten,  but  ought  not 
to  anticipate." 

Aside  from  the  causes  demanding  punishment,  so 
ably  portrayed  in  the  passage  just  quoted,  there  is  still 
another,  growing  out  of  divisions  and  quarrels  in  the 
district.  It  is  by  no  means  uncommon,  in  our  districts, 
owing  to  some  local  matter,  or  to  some  disunion  in 
politics  or  religion,  for  the  people  to  be  arrayed,  the 
one  part  against  the  other.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
tipper  road  are  jealous  of  the  dwellers  on  the  lower 
road ;  the  hill  portion  of  the  district  is  aggrieved  by 
the  influence  of  the  valley  portion ;  the  east  end  com- 
plains of  the  selfishness  of  the  west  end,  and  so  of 
the  north  and  south.  Whenever  a  schoolhouse  is  to 
be  built,  these  different  interests  are  aroused  and  a 
protracted  and  baleful  quarrel  is  the  result.  One  party 
"  carries  the  day "  by  the  force  of  numbers,  but  the 
prosperity  of  the  school  is  impaired  for  years.  At 
every  district  meeting  there  will  be  the  same  strife  for 
the  mastery.  If  one  division  gains  the  power,  the  other 
bends  its  energies  to  cripple  the  school  and  to  annoy 
the  teacher  who  may  be  employed  by  the  dominant 
party,  however  excellent  or  deserving  he  may  be.  "  We 
will  see,"  say  those  who  find  themselves  in  the  minority, 
"  we  will  see  whether  this  man  can  keep  our  school  as 
well  as  it  was  done  last  year  by  our  master."  This  is 
uttered  in  the  presence  of  their  children  —  perhaps  their 
half-grown  sons,  who  will  be  very  ready  to  meet  their 
new  teacher  with  prejudice  and  to  act  out  the  mis- 
givings of  their  parents  as  to  his  success.  When  the 
teacher  first  enters  the  school,  he  is  met  by  opposition 
even  before  he  has  time  to  make  an  impression  for 
good  ;  opposition  which  he  can  scarcely  hope  to  sur- 


SCHOOL   GOVERNMENT  229 

mount  as  long  as  it  is  thus  encouraged  at  home.  Now 
what  shall  he  do?  Shall  he  yield  the  point,  abandon 
the  idea  of  authority,  and  endeavor  to  live  along  from 
day  to  day  in  the  hope  of  a  more  comfortable  state  of 
things  by  and  by  ?  He  may  be  sure  that  matters  will 
daily  grow  worse.  Shall  he  give  up  in  despair,  and 
leave  the  school  to  some  successor?  This  will  only 
strengthen  the  opposition  and  make  it  more  violent 
when  the  successor  shall  be  appointed.  It  is  but  put- 
ting the  difficulty  one  step  farther  off.  Besides,  if  the 
teacher  does  thus  give  up  and  leave  the  school  he  loses 
his  own  reputation  as  a  man  of  energy,  and,  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world,  who  perhaps  may  not  know  —  or  care  to 
know  —  all  the  circumstances,  he  is  held  ever  after  as 
incompetent  for  the  office. 

Now  it  would  be  very  gratifying  if  the  teacher,  under 
any  or  all  of  these  difficulties,  could  possess  the  moral 
power  to  quell  them  all  by  a  look  or  by  the  exercise  of 
his  ingenuity  in  interesting  his  pupils  in  their  studies. 
Undoubtedly  there  are  some  men  who  could  do  it,  and 
do  it  most  triumphantly,  so  as  to  make  their  most 
zealous  enemies  in  a  few  days  their  warmest  friends. 
But  there  are  not  many  who  can  work  thus  at  disad- 
vantage. What  then  shall  be  done  ?  Shall  the  schjool 
be  injured  by  being  disbanded,  and  the  teacher  be 
stigmatized  for  a  failure,  when  he  has  been  employed 
in  good  faith  ?  I  say  no.  He  has  the  right  to  establish 
authority  by  corporal  infliction;  and  thus  to  save  the 
school  and  also  save  himself.  And  more  than  this  ;  — 
if  there  is  reasonable  ground  to  believe  that  by  such 
infliction  he  can  establish  order,  and  thus  make  himself 
useful,  and  save  the  time  and  the  character  of  the 
school,  he  not  only  has  the  right,  but  he  is  bound  by 


230  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

duty  to  use  it.  The  lovers  of  order  in  the  district  have 
a  right  to  expect  him  to  use  it,  unless  by  express  stipu- 
lation beforehand  they  have  exempted  him  from  it.  I 
repeat,  then,  that  it  is  the  teacher's  duty  to  establish 
authority ;  "  peaceably,  indeed,  if  he  may,  —  forcibly  if 
he  must/' 

I  ought  in  fairness  here  to  add,  as  I  have  before 
hinted,  that  not  unfrequently  the  necessity  for  corporal 
infliction  exists  in  the  teacher  himself.  This  is  often 
proved  by  a  transfer  of  teachers.  One  man  takes  a 
school  and  can  only  survive  his  term  by  the  exercise  of 
whipping.  He  is  followed  by  another  who  secures  good 
order  and  the  love  of  the  school  without  any  resort  to 
the  rod.  The  first  declared  that  whipping  was  neces- 
sary in  his  case  to  secure  good  order,  and  truly;  but 
the  necessity  resided  in  him  and  not  in  the  school.  So 
it  often  does,  —  and  while  teachers  are  zealously  defend- 
ing the  rod,  they  should  also  feel  the  necessity  of  im- 
proving themselves  as  the  most  effectual  way  to  obviate 
its  frequent  use. 

When  authority  is  once  established  in  a  school  it  is 
comparatively  easy  to  maintain  it.  There  will  of  course 
be  less  necessity  for  resorting  to  the  rod  after  the  teacher 
has  obtained  the  ascendency,  unless  it  be  in  the  event 
of  taking  some  new  pupil  into  the  school  who  is  dis- 
posed to  be  refractory.  I  have  but  little  respect  for  the 
teacher  who  is  daily  obliged  to  fortify  his  authority  by 
corporal  infliction.  Something  must  be  fundamentally 
wrong  in  the  teacher  whose  machinery  of  government, 
when  once  well  in  motion,  needs  to  be  so  often  forcibly 
wound  up. 

From  what  has  already  been  said  it  will  be  seen  that  I 
do  not  belong  to  the  number  who  affirm  that  the  rod  of 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  23 1 

correction  should  never  be  used  in  schools.  Nor  am  I 
prepared  to  advise  any  teacher  to  publish  beforehand 
that  he  will  not  punish  with  the  rod.  It  would  always 
be  wiser  for  the  teacher  to  say  nothing  about  it.  Very 
little  good  ever  comes  of  threatening  the  use  of  it. 
Threatening  of  any  sort  avails  but  little.  A  teacher 
may  enter  a  school  with  the  determination  to  govern  it 
if  possible  without  force.  Indeed  I  should  advise  one 
always  to  make  this  determination  in  his  own  mind. 
But  whenever  such  a  determination  is  published,  the 
probability  of  success  is  very  much  diminished. 

The  true  way  and  the  safe  way,  in  my  opinion,  is  to 
rely  mainly  on  moral  means  for  the  government  of  the 
school, — to  use  the  rod  without  much  threatening,  if 
driven  to  it  by  the  force  of  circumstances ;  and  as  soon 
as  authority  is  established,  to  allow  it  again  to  slumber 
with  the  tacit  understanding  that  it  can  be  again  awak- 
ened from  its  repose  if  found  necessary.  The  knowl- 
edge in  the  school  that  there  is  an  arm  of  power,  may 
prevent  any  necessity  of  an  appeal  to  it ;  and  such  a 
knowledge  can  do  no  possible  harm  in  itself.  But  if 
the  teacher  has  once  pledged  himself  to  the  school  that 
he  will  never  use  the  rod,  the  necessity  may  soon  come 
for  him  to  abandon  his  position  or  lose  his  influence  over 
the  pupils. 

As  much  has  been  said  against  the  use  of  the  rod 
in  any  case  in  school  government,  it  may  be  proper  to 
consider  briefly  some  of  the  substitutes  for  it  which 
have  been  suggested  by  its  opposers. 

Some  have  urged  solitary  confinement.  This  might  do 
in  some  cases.  Undoubtedly  an  opportunity  for  reflec- 
tion is  of  great  use  to  a  vicious  boy.  But  then  how 
inadequate  are  the  means  for  this  kind  of  discipline  in 


232  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

our  schools.  Most  of  our  schoolhouses  have  but  one 
room.  In  such  cases  solitary  confinement  is  out  of  the 
question.  In  other  instances  there  may  be  (as  there 
always  should  be)  a  room,  not  constantly  devoted  to  the 
purposes  of  the  school.  Here  a  pupil  could  be  confined ; 
and  I  have  no  objection  whatever  to  this  course,  provided 
the  room  is  not  a  dark  one,  and  its  temperature  can  be 
comfortable.  But  even  with  this  facility,  confinement 
cannot  be  relied  on  as  the  only  punishment,  because  if 
offenses  should  multiply  and  the  offenders  should  all  be 
sent  to  the  same  place,  then  confinement  would  soon 
cease  to  be  solitary !  And  suppose  some  philanthropist 
should  devise  a  plan  of  a  schoolhouse  with  several  cells 
for  the  accommodation  of  offenders;  still  this  punish- 
ment would  fail  of  its  purpose.  The  teacher  has  no 
power  to  confine  a  pupil  much  beyond  the  limit  of  school 
hours.  This  the  obstinate  child  would  understand,  and 
he  would  therefore  resolve  to  hold  out  till  he  must  be 
dismissed,  and  then  he  would  be  the  triumphant  party. 
He  could  boast  to  his  fellows  that  he  had  borne  the  pun- 
ishment, and  that  without  submission  or  promise  for  the 
future  he  had  been  excused  because  his  time  had  expired. 
This  substitute  is  often  urged  by  parents  who  have 
tried  it  successfully  in  case  of  their  own  children  in  their 
own  houses,  where  it  was  known  that  it  could  of  course 
be  protracted  to  any  necessary  length.  Besides,  if  the 
confinement  alone  was  not  sufficient,  the  daily  allowance 
of  food  could  be  withheld.  Under  such  circumstances 
it  may  be  very  effectual,  as  undoubtedly  it  often  has 
been ;  but  he  is  a  very  shallow  parent  who,  having  tried 
this  experiment  upon  a  single  child,  with  all  the  facilities 
of  a  parent,  prescribes  it  with  the  expectation  of  equal 
success  in  the  government  of  a  large  school. 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  233 

Others  have  urged  the  expulsion  of  such  scholars  as 
are  disobedient.  To  this  it  may  be  replied  that  it  is  not 
quite  certain,  under  existing  laws,  whether  the  teacher 
has  the  right  to  expel  a  scholar  from  the  common 
schools ;  and  some  deny  even  the  right  of  the  school 
officers  to  do  it.  Whether  the  right  exists  or  not,  it  is 
very  questionable  whether  it  is  ever  expedient  to  expel 
a  scholar  for  vicious  conduct;  and  especially  in  cases 
where  there  is  physical  power  to  control  him.  The 
vicious  and  ignorant  scholar  is  the  very  one  who  most 
needs  the  reforming  influence  of  a  good  education. 
Sent  away  from  the  fountain  of  knowledge  and  virtue 
at  this,  the  very  time  of  need,  and  what  may  we  ex- 
pect for  him  but  utter  ruin  ?  Such  a  pupil  most  of  all 
needs  the  restraint  and  the  instruction  of  a  teacher  who 
is  capable  of  exercising  the  one  and  affording  the  other. 

But  suppose  he  is  dismissed,  is  there  any  reason  to 
hope  that  this  step  will  improve  the  culprit  himself  or 
better  the  condition  of  the  school  ?  Will  he  not  go  on 
to  establish  himself  in  vice,  unrestrained  by  any  good 
influence,  and  at  last  become  a  suitable  subject  for  the 
severity  of  the  laws,  an  inmate  of  our  prisons,  and  per- 
haps a  miserable  expiator  of  his  own  crimes  upon  the 
gallows  ?  How  many  youth  —  and  youth  worth  saving, 
too  —  have  been  thus  cast  out  perversely  to  procure 
their  own  ruin,  at  the  very  time  when  they  might  have 
been  saved  by  sufficient  energy  and  benevolence,  no 
mortal  tongue  can  tell !  Nor  is  the  school  itself  usually 
benefited  by  this  measure.  "  For  all  purposes  of  evil," 
Mr.  Mann  justly  remarks,  "  he  continues  in  the  midst 
of  the  very  children  from  among  whom  he  was  cast  out ; 
and  when  he  associates  with  them  out  of  school,  there 
is  no  one  present  to  abate  or  neutralize  his  vicious  influ- 


234  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

ences.  If  the  expelled  pupil  be  driven  from  the  district 
where  he  belongs  into  another,  in  order  to  prevent  his 
contamination  at  home,  what  better  can  be  expected  of 
the  place  to  which  he  is  sent  than  a  reciprocation  of  the 
deed,  by  their  sending  one  of  their  outcasts  to  supply  his 
place ;  and  thus  opening  a  commerce  of  evil  upon  free- 
trade  principles.  Nothing  is  gained  while  the  evil  pur- 
pose remains  in  the  heart.  Reformation  is  the  great 
desideratum  ;  and  can  any  lover  of  his  country  hesitate 
between  the  alternative  of  forcible  subjugation  and  vic- 
torious contumacy  ? " 

From  all  that  has  been  said  it  will  be  seen  that  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  teach  that  corporal  infliction  is  one  of  the 
justifiable  means  of  establishing  authority  in  the  school- 
room. To  this  conclusion  I  have  come,  after  a  careful 
consideration  of  the  subject,  modified  by  the  varied  ex- 
perience of  nearly  twenty  years,  and  by  a  somewhat 
attentive  observation  of  the  workings  of  all  the  plans 
which  have  been  devised  to  avoid  its  use  or  to  supply 
its  "place.  And  although  I  do  not  understand  the 
Scriptures,  and  particularly  the  writings  of  Solomon,  to 
recommend  a  too  frequent  and  ill-considered  use  of  it,  I 
do  not  find  anything  in  the  letter  or  spirit  of  Christianity 
inconsistent  with  its  proper  application.  It  is  the  abuse, 
and  not  the  use  of  the  rod,  against  which  our  better 
feeling,  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  revolts.  It 
is  the  abuse  of  the  rod,  or  rather  the  abuse  of  children 
under  the  infliction  of  the  rod,  that  first  called  forth  the 
discussion  referred  to  and  awakened  the  general  opposi- 
tion to  its  use.  I  am  free  to  admit  there  has  been  an 
egregious  abuse  in  this  matter,  and  that  to  this  day  it  is 
unabated  in  many  of  our  schools.  I  admit,  too,  that 
abuse  very  naturally  accompanies  the  use  of  the  rod, 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  235 

and  that  very  great  caution  is  necessary  in  those  who 
resort  to  it,  lest  they  pervert  it.  I  feel  called  upon 
therefore  before  leaving  this  subject  to  throw  out  for  the 
consideration  of  the  young  teacher  particularly  a  few 
hints  to  regulate  the  infliction  of  chastisement,  under  the 
head  of 

SECTION    V. LIMITATIONS    AND    SUGGESTIONS 

i.  The  teacher  should  be  thoroughly  convinced  that 
the  rod  is  the  best  thing  for  the  specific  case  before  he 
determines  to  use  it.  Nor  should  he  hastily  or  capri- 
ciously come  to  this  conviction.  He  should  carefully 
and  patiently  try  other  means  first.  He  should  study 
the  disposition  of  the  offender  and  learn  the  tendencies 
of  his  mind ;  and  only  after  careful  deliberation  should 
he  suffer  himself  to  decide  to  use  this  mode  of  punish- 
ment. In  order  that  the  punishment  should  be  salutary, 
the  scholar  should  plainly  see  that  the  teacher  resorts  to 
it  from  deep  principle,  from  the  full  belief  that  under  all 
the  circumstances  it  is  the  best  thing  that  can  be  done, 

2.  The  teacher  should  never  be  under  the  excitement 
of  angry  passion  when  inflicting  the  punishment.  This 
is  of  the  utmost  importance.  Most  of  the  abuses  before 
spoken  of  grow  out  of  a  violation  of  this  fundamental 
rule.  A  teacher  should  never  strike  for  punishment  till 
he  is  perfectly  self-possessed  and  entirely  free  from  the 
bitterness  which  perhaps  tinctured  his  mind  when  he 
discovered  the  offense.  It  was  a  wise  remark  of  a  young 
Shaker  teacher  that  "  no  teacher  should  strike  a  child 
till  he  could  hold  his  arm."  So  long  as  the  child  dis- 
covers that  the  teacher  is  under  the  influence  of  passion, 
and  that  his  lip  trembles  with  pent-up  rage,  and  his 
blood  flows  into  his  face  as  if  driven  by  inward  fires  of 


236  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

wrath,  he  looks  upon  him,  not  as  his  friend  seeking  his 
welfare,  but  as  his  enemy  indulging  in  persecution. 
This  will  call  forth  the  evil  passions  of  the  child,  and 
while  he  bears  the  pain  he  feels  no  real  penitence ;  and 
very  likely  in  the  midst  of  his  suffering  he  resolves  to 
go  and  do  the  same  again  out  of  mere  spite. 

It  is  moreover  of  great  consequence  in  the  infliction 
of  a  punishment  that  the  teacher  should  be  fully  sus- 
tained by  the  public  opinion  of  the  school.  He  can 
never  expect  this  when  he  loses  his  self-control.  If  the 
pupils  see  that  he  is  angry,  they  almost  instinctively 
sympathize  with  the  weaker  party,  and  they  associate 
the  idea  of  injustice  with  the  action  of  the  stronger. 
A  punishment  can  scarcely  be  of  any  good  tendency 
inflicted  under  such  circumstances. 

3.  Corporal  punishment,  as  a  general  rule,  should  be 
inflicted  in  presence  of  the  school.  I  have  before  advised 
that  reproof  should  be  given  in  private,  and  assigned 
reasons  for  it  which  were  perhaps  satisfactory  to  the 
reader.  But  in  case  of  corporal  punishment  the 
offense  is  of  a  more  public  and  probably  of  a  more 
serious  nature.  If  inflicted  in  private  it  will  still  be 
known  to  the  school,  and  therefore  the  reputation 
of  the  scholar  is  not  saved.  If  inflicted  in  the  proper 
spirit  by  the  teacher  and  for  proper  cause,  it  always 
produces  a  salutary  effect  upon  the  school.  But  a  still 
stronger  reason  for  making  the  infliction  public  is,  that 
it  puts  it  beyond  the  power  of  the  pupil  to  misrepresent 
the  teacher,  as  he  is  strongly  tempted  to  do  if  he  is 
alone.  He  may  mistake  the  degree  of  severity,  and 
misrepresent  the  manner  of  the  teacher ;  and,  without 
witnesses,  the  teacher  is  at  the  mercy  of  his  reports. 
Sometimes    he    may   ridicule    the    punishment    to   his 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  237 

comrades,  and  lead  them  to  believe  that  a  private  in- 
fliction is  but  a  small  matter;  again  he  may  exag- 
gerate it  to  his  parents,  and  charge  the  teacher  most 
unjustly  with  unprincipled  cruelty.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  safest  and 
most  effectual  way  is  to  do  this  work  in  the  presence  of 
the  school.  An  honest  teacher  need  not  fear  the  light 
of  day ;  and  if  he  has  the  right  spirit  he  need  not  fear 
the  effect  upon  his  other  pupils.  It  is  only  the  violent, 
angry  punishment  that  needs  to  be  concealed  from  the 
general  eye,  and  that  we  have  condemned  as  improper 
at  any  rate. 

4.  Punishment  may  sometimes  be  delayed ;  mnd  al- 
ways delayed  till  all  anger  has  subsided  in  the  teacher. 
It  is  often  best  for  all  concerned  to  defer  an  infliction  for 
a  day  or  more.  This  gives  the  teacher  an  opportunity  in 
his  cooler  moments  to  determine  more  justly  the  degree 
of  severity  to  be  used.  It  will  also  give  the  culprit  time 
*o  reflect  upon  the  nature  of  his  offense  and  the  degree 
of  punishment  he  deserves.  I  may  say  that  it  is  gener- 
ally wise  for  the  teacher,  after  promising  a  punishment, 
to  take  some  time  to  consider  what  it  shall  be,  whether  a 
corporal  infliction  or  some  milder  treatment.  If,  after 
due  and  careful  reflection,  he  comes  conscientiously  to 
the  conclusion  that  bodily  pain  is  the  best  thing,  —  wliile 
he  will  be  better  prepared  to  inflict,  the  pupil,  by  similar 
reflection,  will  be  better  prepared  to  receive  it  and 
profit  by  it. 

5.  A  proper  instrument  should  be  used  and  a  proper 
mode  of  infliction  adopted.  No  heavy  and  hurtful 
weapon  should  be  employed.  A  light  rule  for  the  hand, 
or  a  rod  for  the  back  or  lower  extremities,  may  be  pre- 
ferred.    Great  care  should  be  exercised  to  avoid  injuring 


238  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

any  of  the  joints  in  the  infliction ;    and  on  no  account 
should  a  blow  be  given  upon  the  head. 

6.  If  possible,  the  punishment  should  be  made  effectual. 
A  punishment  that  does  not  produce  thorough  submis- 
sion and  penitence  in  the  subject  of  it,  can  hardly  be 
said  to  answer  its  main  design.  To  be  sure,  in  cases  of 
general  insubordination  in  the  school,  I  have  said  that 
punishment  may  be  applied  to  one,  having  in  view  the 
deterring  of  others  from  similar  offenses.  But  such 
exemplary  punishment  belongs  to  extreme  cases,  while 
disciplinary  punishment,  which  has  mainly  for  its  ob- 
ject the  reformation  of  the  individual  upon  whom  it  is 
inflicted,  should  be  most  relied  on.  Taking  either  view 
of  the  case  it  should  if  possible  answer  its  design,  or  it 
would  be  better  not  to  attempt  it.  The  teacher's. judg- 
ment, therefore,  should  be  very  carefully  exercised  in 
the  matter,  and  all  his  knowledge  of  human  nature 
should  be  called  into  requisition.  If  after  careful  and 
conscientious  deliberation  he  comes  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  infliction  of  pain  is  the  best  thing,  and  to  the 
belief  that  he  can  so  inflict  it  as  to  show  himself  to  the 
school  and  to  the  child,  in  this  act  as  in  all  others,  a  true 
and  kind  friend  to  the  child,  —  then  he  is  justified  in 
making  the  attempt;  and  having  considerately  under- 
taken the  case,  it  should  be  so  thorough  as  not  soon  to 
need  repetition. 

I  would  here  take  the  opportunity  to  censure  the 
practice  of  those  teachers  who  punish  every  little  de- 
parture from  duty  with  some  trifling  appliance  of  the 
rod,  which  the  scholar  forgets  almost  as  soon  as  the 
smarting  ceases.  Some  instructors  carry  about  with 
them  a  rattan  or  stick  in  order  to  have  it  ready  for 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  239 

appliance  as  soon  as  they  see  any  departure  from  their 
commands.  The  consequence  is  they  soon  come  to  a 
frequent  and  inconsiderate  use  of  it,  and  the  pupils  by 
habit  become  familiar  with  it,  and  of  course  cease  to 
respect  their  teacher  or  to  dread  his  punishments.  I 
have  seen  so  much  of  this  that  whenever  I  see  a  teacher 
thus  "armed  and  equipped,  "  I  infer  at  once  that  his 
school  is  a  disorderly  one,  an  inference  almost  invariably 
confirmed  by  a  few  minutes'  observation.  My  earnest 
advice  to  all  young  teachers  would  be,  next  to  the  habit 
of  scolding  incessantly,  avoid  the  habit  of  resorting  to  the 
rod  on  every  slight  occasion.  When  that  instrument  is  not 
demanded  for  some  special  exigency,  some  great  occasion 
and  some  high  purpose,  allow  it  to  slumber  in  a  private 
corner  of  your  desk,  not  again  to  be  called  into  activity 
till  some  moral  convulsion  shall  disturb  its  quiet  repose. 
I  have  a  single  caution  to  give  in  regard  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  this  subject,  which  in  all  our  educational 
gatherings  occupies  so  much  time  and  talent.  It  is 
this  :  Do  not  adopt  a  general  principle  from  too  few 
inductions.  There  is  an  old  proverb  that  declares, 
"One  swallow  does  not  make  a  summer."  Young 
teachers  are  very  prone  to  rely  on  the  experience  of  a 
single  term.  If  they  have  kept  one  term  without  cor- 
poral punishment,  they  are  very  likely  to  instruct  their 
seniors  with  their  experience ;  and  if  they  have  happened 
to  be  so  situated  as  to  be  compelled  to  save  themselves 
by  the  rod,  why  then  too  their  experience  forever  settles 
the  question.  It  requires  the  experience  of  more  than 
one,  or  tivo  or  three  schools,  to  enable  a  man  to  speak 
dogmatically  on  this  subject;  and  I  always  smile  when 
I  hear  men,  and  sometimes  very  young  men,  who  have 
never  kept  school  in  their  lives,  perhaps,  or  at  most  but 


240  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

a  single  term,  speaking  as  with  the  voice  of  authority. 
Experience  is  indeed  one  of  our  safest  guides  in  this  as 
in  every  other  matter ;  but  they  who  tell  their  experi- 
ence should  at  least  wait  till  they  have  that  which  is 
ivorthy  to  be  told. 

There  is  another  point.  It  is  quite  fashionable  at  the 
present  day,  whenever  the  subject  is  to  be  discussed, 
to  propose  the  matter  in  the  form  of  a  resolution,  as, 
"  Resolved,  that  no  person  is  fit  to  be  employed  as  a 
teacher  who  cannot  govern  his  scholars  by  holier  means 
than  bodily  chastisement ;"  or,  "  Resolved,  that  no  limit 
should  be  set  to  the  teacher's  right  to  use  the  '  rod  of 
correction,'  and  that  they  who  denounce  the  teachers 
for  resorting  to  it  are  unworthy  of  our  confidence  in 
matters  of  education."  Now  whoever  presents  the 
question  in  this  form  assumes  that  he  has  drawn  a  line 
through  the  very  core  of  the  truth ;  and  he  undertakes 
to  censure  all  those  who  are  unwilling  to  square  their 
opinions  by  the  line  thus  drawn.  In  the  discussion  a 
man  must  take  one  side  or  the  other  of  the  question  as 
it  is  proposed,  and  consequently  he  may  take  a  false 
position.  The  better  way  would  be  to  present  the  whole 
subject  as  a  matter  of  free  remark,  and  thus  leave  every 
one  to  present  his  own  views  honestly  as  they  lie  in  his 
own  mind.  In  this  way  no  one  is  pledged  to  this  or  that 
party,  but  is  left  unprejudiced  to  discover  and  embrace 
the  truth  wherever  it  is  found. 

It  should  moreover  be  remembered  that  resolving  by 
the  vote  of  a  meeting  in  order  to  force  public  opinion 
can  never  affect  the  truth.  A  few  impious,  Heaven- 
daring  men  in  France,  at  one  of  their  revels,  once  re- 
solved, "There  is  no  God  !  "  but  did  this  blasphemous 
breath  efface  the  impress  of  Deity  on  all  this  fair  crea- 


SCHOOL   GOVERNMENT  24 1 

tion  of  His  power  ?  And  when  they  rose  from  their  vile 
debauch  and  sought  with  tottering  step  to  leave  the 
scene  of  madness  and  to  court  the  dim  forgetfulness  of 
sleep,  —  rolled  not  the  shining  orbs  in  heaven's  high 
arch  above  them  as  much  in  duty  to  His  will,  as  when 
they  sang  together  to  usher  in  creation's  morning  ?  So 
it  will  ever  be.  Men  may  declare  and  resolve  as  they 
please ;  but  truth  is  eternal  and  unchangeable ;  and 
they  are  the  wisest  men  who  modestly  seek  to  find  her 
as  she  is,  and  not  as  their  perverted  imaginations  would 
presume  to  paint  her. 

Yet  after  all,  in  the  government  of  schools,  there  is 
a  more  excellent  way.  There  are  usually  easier  avenues 
to  the  heart  than  that  which  is  found  through  the  in- 
teguments of  the  body.  Happy  is  that  teacher  who  is 
so  skillful  as  to  find  them ;  and  gladly  would  I  welcome 
the  day  when  the  number  of  such  skillful  and  devoted 
teachers  should  render  any  further  defense  of  the  rod 
superfluous.  Although  I  believe  that  day  has  not  yet 
arrived,  still  in  the  meantime  I  most  earnestly  urge  all 
teachers  to  strive  to  reach  the  higher  motives  and  the 
finer  feelings  of  the  young,  and  to  rely  mainly  for  suc- 
cess, not  upon  appeals  to  fear  and  force,  but  upon^Jhe 
power  of  conscience  and  the  law  of  reciprocal  affection. 

As  I  have  placed  the  higher  motives  and  the  more 
desirable  means  first  in  order  in  these  remarks  on 
government,  so  I  would  always  have  them  first  and 
perseveringly  employed  by  the  teacher ;  and  if  by  ear- 
nestness in  his  work,  by  unfeigned  love  for  the  young, 
by  diligence  in  the  study  of  their  natures  and  the  adap- 
tation of  means  to  ends  which  true  benevolence  is  sure 
to  suggest,  he  can  govern  successfully  without  corporal 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING —  1 6 


242  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

punishment — as  in  a  large  proportion  of  cases  I  believe 
it  can  be  done  —  none  will  rejoice  more  than  I  at  such 
a  desirable  result;  and  I  most  cordially  subscribe  to 
the  principle  so  happily  stated  by  another,  that  in  the 
government  of  schools,  if  thorough  obedience  be  but 
secured  and  order  maintained,  other  things  being  equal, 
"The  minimum  of  punishment  is  the  maximum  of 
excellence." 

an  ideal  school 

"A  well-governed  school,  in  my  estimation,  is  so 
well  poised,  that  is,  so  self-poised,  that  in  the  absence 
of  the  teacher,  it  will  run  on  of  itself  till  the  nightfall, 
without  noise  or  friction.  Is  this  too  much  to  expect  ? 
Fellow-teachers,  we  can  take  iron  and  brass  and  make 
a  watch  that  will  keep  time  when  its  owner  is  sound 
asleep ;  that  will  run  on  correctly  for  a  year.  He  is  a 
poor  watchmaker  who  cannot  make  one  that  will  run 
twenty-four  hours.  Can  we  do  more  with  dead,  dumb 
metal  than  we  can  with  living,  loving,  throbbing  human 
hearts  ?  Can  we  accomplish  more  accurate,  definite, 
reliable  results  with  our  skilled  hands  than  our  trained 
minds  ?  Shall  a  teacher  of  immortal  souls  yield  to  a 
maker  of  machinery?  Nay,  verily."  —  J.  Dorman 
Steele,  Morgan's  "  Educational  Mosaics,"  p.  234. 

topical  outline 

Preface. 

1 .  Obedience  and  order  necessary  conditions  of  success. 

2.  The  teacher  is  often  the  source  of  disorder. 
I.  Requisites  in  the  Teacher  for  Good  Government. 

I .    Self-government. 

(1)  Anger. 

(2)  Levity  and  moroseness. 

(3)  The  peculiar  and  unfortunate. 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  243 

2.  Confidence  in  his  ability  to  govern. 

( 1 )  Not  blind  presumption. 

(2)  Effects  of  self-confidence. 

(3)  Effects  of  misgivings. 

3.  Just  views  of  government. 

(1)  Its  purpose  is  to  quicken  and  enlighten  the  con* 

science  and  to  strengthen  the  will  for  righteous 
self-control. 

(2)  The  well-being  of  the  pupils  more  important  thai^ 

the  pleasure  or  convenience  of  the  teacher. 

(3)  Considers  only  the  best  good  of  the  children. 

(4)  Must  be  uniform  —  free  from  caprice. 

(5)  Must  be  equable  and  impartial. 

4.  Just  views  of  the  governed. 

(1)  Children  have  a  right  to  be  treated  humanely. 

(2)  Children  have  a  right  to  be  treated  reasonably. 

(3)  Children  have  a  right  to  be  treated  impartially. 

5.  Decision  and  firmness. 

(1)  Define  each. 

(2)  Effects  of  indecision  and  vacillation.     Illustrate. 

6.  Deep  moral  principle. 

(1)  Effect  on  pupils. 

II .  Means  of  securing  Good  Order. 

1.  Be  careful  about  first  impressions. 

(1)  Naturalness. 

(2)  Pretenses. 

(3)  Discourtesy. 

2.  Avoid  entertaining  or  exhibiting  a  suspicious  spirit. 

(1)  Trust  pupils  as  long  and  far  as  possible.       -^ 

(2)  Believing  people  to  be  what  they  are  not  helps  to 

make  them  what  they  are  not.     [The  lesson  oi 
"  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy."] 

(3)  Franklin's  rule. 

3.  Give  regular  and  full  employment  as  soon  as  possible. 

(1)  Have  a  plan  for  the  first  day. 

(2)  Classify,  and  work  by  schedule  conscientiously. 

(3)  The  discipline  of  interested  industry. 

4.  Make  but  few  rules.     White's  School  Management,  pp. 

IOO-IOI. 


244  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

(i)  Arguments  against  a  long  code  of  rules. 

(2)  The  law  of  conscience  more  important  than  the 

law  of  the  teacher. 

(3)  The  futility  of  threats. 

5.  Wake  up  mind  in  the  school  and  the  district. 

(1)  Vary  the  ordinary  daily  routine.     How  ? 

(2)  Have  vocal  music.     Why? 

6.  Visit  the  parents  of  your  pupils.     Why  ? 

7.  Register  credits  ;  omit  demerits. 

(1)  Page's  estimate  of  marks  and  reports. 

8.  Avoid  over-government. 

(1)  Government  is  subordinate  to  instruction. 

(2)  A  well-taught  school  needs  little  government. 

(3)  The  teacher  who  is  constantly  struggling  to  gov- 

ern his  school  has  failed  first  of  all  in  teach- 
ing it. 

(4)  A  disorderly  teacher  makes  a  disorderly  school. 

(5)  Over-stillness  indicates  the  palsy  of  fear. 

III.    Punishments, 

1.  Definition.     Punishment  must  be : 

(1)  Authoritative  and  just. 

Source  of  the  teacher's  legal  authority. 
Source  of  the  teacher's  moral  authority. 

(2)  Impersonal. 

Free  from  personal  feelings. 

(3)  Reformative  or  deterrent,  or  both. 

Read  White's  School  Management,  pp.  192-198. 

2.  The  legal  aspect  of  anger,  revenge,  and  cruelty  on  part 

of  the  teacher  in  punishing. 

3.  An  address  to  fear  and  shame  sometimes  necessary. 

When? 

4.  Kinds  of  punishment. 

(1)  Mental.     Instances. 

(2)  Bodily.     Instances. 

5.  Improper  punishments. 

(1)  Personal  indignities.     Instances. 

(2)  Punishments  indicating  love  of  torture.    Instances. 

(3)  Ridicule. 

Effects  on  teacher  and  on  pupil. 


SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT  245 

6.    Proper  punishments. 

(1)  Kind  reproof — usually  in  private. 

(2)  Loss  of  privileges.     Instances. 

(3)  Restraint  or  confinement. 

For  what  class  of  offenses  ? 

Caution  against  confinement  in  the  dark. 

(4)  Humiliation.     Caution. 

(5)  Imposition  of  tasks. 

Instances.     Caution. 

(6)  Corporal  punishment. 

IV.    Corporal  Punishment.     Page's  propositions  : 

1 .  Authority  must  be  established  before  the  objects  of  the 

school  can  be  accomplished. 

2.  It  is  the  teacher's  duty  to  establish  authority ;  peaceably 

if  he  may,  forcibly  if  he  must. 
3#   The  necessity  for  flogging  often  arises  in  the  home  life  of 
pupils. 

4.  Oftentimes  it  resides  in  the  teacher. 

5.  The  efficient  teacher  finds  a  decreasing  need  for  appeal  to 

the  rod. 

6.  It  is  unwise  to  publish  beforehand  the  teacher's  views 

about  corporal  punishment. 

7.  Rely  on  moral  means  mainly ;  use  the  rod  if  driven  to  it 

by  force  of  circumstances. 

8.  Solitary  confinement  an  inconvenient  and,  as  a  rule,  an 

unwise  substitute  for  the  rod. 

9.  Expulsion  is  also  a  substitute  of  doubtful  wisdom. 

(1)  It  abandons  the  idea  of  reformation  where  it  is 

most  needed. 

(2)  It  endangers  the  community  without  protecting  the 

school. 

10.  Christian  sentiment  revolts  at  the  abuse  of  the  rod,  not  at 

its  use. 

1 1 .  The  use  of  the  rod  has  been  egregiously  abused  in  many 

schools. 
V.    Limitations  and  Suggestions. 

1 .  Appeal  to  the  rod  deliberately  and  conscientiously  —  as  a 

last  resort. 

2.  The  rod  should  never  be  used  in  anger. 


246  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

3.  Corporal  punishment  should  be  inflicted  publicly,  as  a  rule. 

Are  Page's  reasons  satisfactory? 

4.  Delay  gives  the  teacher  and  the  pupil  time  for  reflection. 

5.  Corporal  punishment  should  be  so  thorough  —  short  of 

cruelty  —  as  not  to  need  repetition. 

6.  The  punishment  should  be  inflicted  with  a  safe  instru- 

ment in  a  proper  manner. 

7.  The  rod  should  not  be  used  for  trifling  offenses. 

8.  It  should  be  kept  out  of  sight  when  not  in  use. 

VI.    Conclusion. 

1.  There  is  a  more  excellent  way;  not  through  fear  and 

force,   but    by  appeals   to   finer   feelings   and   higher 
motives,  to  conscience  and  mutual  affection. 

2.  The  minimum  of  punishment  is  the  maximum  of  excellence. 

SUBJECTS   FOR  DISCUSSION   OR   ESSAYS 

1.  Elements  of  Governing  Power. 

Baldwin's  Art  of  School  Management,  pp.  124-138. 

2.  The  Purposes  of  School  Government. 

Compayre's  Lectures  on  Pedagogy,  p.  475. 
White's  School  Management,  pp.  105-113. 
Third  Yearbook  of  the  National  Herbart  Society.     Article  by 
Dr.  W.  T.  Harris. 

3.  The  Purposes  and  Principles  of  Punishment. 

Fitch's  Lectures  on  Teaching,  pp.  110-111. 
White's  School  Management,  pp.  190-206. 
Bain's  Education  as  a  Science,  pp.  102-105. 
Baldwin's  School  Management,  pp.  154-160. 

4.  The  Use  and  Abuse  of  the  Rod. 

Baldwin's  School  Management,  pp.  174-182. 
Bain's  Education  as  a  Science,  p.  116. 
Swetfs  Methods  of  Teaching,  pp.  64-65. 
Fitch's  Lectures  on  Teaching,  p.  119. 

5.  The  Discipline  of  Natural  Consequences. 

Spencer's  Education.     Chap.  III.     (On  Moral  Education.) 

Bain's  Education  as  a  Science,  p.  118. 

Fitch's  Lectures  on  Teaching,  p.  115. 

White's  School  Management,  pp.  203-210. 

Compayre's  Psychology  as  applied  to  Education,  pp.  190-192. 


CHAPTER   XI 

SCHOOL   ARRANGEMENTS 

Your  school  must  be  in  a  state  of  order  or  disorder  —  arrange- 
ment or  derangement.  Education  is  largely  concerned  with  thinking 
and  saying  and  doing  things  in  an  orderly  way  —  with  arrangement 
instead  of  derangement. 

Every  teacher  before  opening  a  school  should  have 
some  general  plan  in  his  mind,  of  what  he  intends  to  ac- 
complish. In  every  enterprise  there  is  great  advantage 
to  be  derived  from  forethought,  —  and  perhaps  nowhere 
is  the  advantage  greater  than  in  the  business  of  teach- 
ing. The  day  of  opening  a  school  is  an  eventful  day  to 
the  young  teacher.  A  thousand  things  crowd  upon  him 
at  the  same  time,  and  each  demands  a  prompt  and  judi- 
cious action  on  his  part.  The  children  to  the  number 
of  half  a  hundred  all  turn  their  inquiring  eyes  to  him 
for  occupation  and  direction.  They  have  come  full  of 
interest  in  the  prospects  of  the  new  school,  ready  to  en- 
gage cheerfully  in  whatever  plans  the  teacher  may  have 
to  propose ;  and,  I  was  about  to  say,  just  as  ready  to 
arrange  and  carry  into  effect  their  own  plans  of  disorder 
and  misrule,  if  they,  unhappily  for  him  and  for  them- 
selves, find  he  has  no  system  to  introduce. 

What  a  critical  —  what  an  eventful  moment  is  this 
first  day  of  the  term  to  all  concerned !  The  teacher's 
success  and  usefulness,  —  nay,  his  reputation  as  an  effi- 
cient instructor, — now  "  hang  upon  the  decision  of  an 

247 


248  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

hour."  An  hour,  too,  may  almost  foretell  whether  the 
precious  season  of  childhood  and  youth  now  before 
these  immortals  is  to  be  a  season  of  profit  and  healthful 
culture  under  a  judicious  hand,  or  a  season  of  wasted  — 
perhaps  worse  than  wasted  —  existence,  under  the  im- 
becility or  misguidance  of  one  who  "  knows  not  what  he 
does  or  what  he  deals  with." 

If  angels  ever  visit  our  earth  and  hover  unseen  around 
the  gatherings  of  mortals  to  survey  their  actions  and 
contemplate  their  destiny  as  affected  by  human  instru- 
mentality, it  seems  to  me  there  can  be  no  spectacle  so 
calculated  to  awaken  their  interest  and  enkindle  their 
sympathy  as  when  they  see  the  young  gathering  to- 
gether from  their  scattered  homes  in  some  rural  district, 
to  receive  an  impress,  for  weal  or  woe,  from  the  hand  of 
him  who  has  undertaken  to  guide  them.  And  suppos- 
ing them  to  have  the  power  to  appreciate  to  the  full 
extent  the  consequences  of  human  agency,  how  must 
they  be  touched  with  emotions  of  joy  and  gratitude,  or 
shudder  with  those  of  horror  and  dread,  as  they  witness 
the  alternations  of  wisdom  and  folly,  seriousness  and 
indifference,  sincerity  and  duplicity,  purity  and  defile- 
ment, exhibited  by  him  who  has  assumed  to  be  at  once 
the  director  and  exemplar  in  the  formation  of  human 
character,  at  such  an  important  period.  How  deplorable 
is  the  thought  that  all  the  fond  hopes  of  the  parents,  all 
the  worthy  aspirings  of  the  children,  and  all  the  thrilling 
interests  of  higher  beings,  are  so  often  to  be  answered 
by  qualifications  so  scanty,  and  by  a  spirit  so  indifferent 
in  the  teaching  of  the  young.  How  sad  the  thought 
that  up  to  this  very  moment  so  pregnant  with  conse- 
quences to  all  concerned,  there  has  been  too  often  so 
little  of  preparation  for  the  responsibility. 


SCHOOL  ARRANGEMENTS  249 

I  fain  would  impress  the  young  teacher  with  the  im- 
portance of  having  a  plan  for  even  the  first  day  of  the 
school.  It  will  raise  him  surprisingly  in  the  estimation 
of  the  pupils  and  also  of  the  parents  if  he  can  make  an 
expeditious  and  efficient  beginning  of  the  school.  While 
the  dull  teacher  is  slowly  devising  the  plans  he  will  by 
and  by  present  for  the  employment  and  improvement  of 
his  school,  the  children,  taking  advantage  of  their  own 
exemption  from  labor,  very  promptly  introduce  their 
own  plans  for  amusing  themselves  or  for  annoying  him ; 
—  whereas  if  he  could  but  have  his  own  plans  already 
made,  and  could  promptly  and  efficiently  carry  them 
into  execution,  he  would  forestall  their  mischievous 
designs  and  make  cooperators  out  of  his  opposers. 

In  order  to  be  sure  of  a  successful  commencement  I 
would  recommend  that  the  teacher  should  go  into  the 
district  a  few  days  before  the  school  is  to  begin.  By 
careful  inquiry  of  the  trustees  or  the  school  committee 
he  can  ascertain  what  are  the  character  of  the  district 
and  wants  of  the  school.  This  will  afford  him  consider- 
able aid.  But  he  should  do  more  than  this.  He  would 
do  well  to  call  on  several  of  the  families  of  the  district 
whose  children  are  to  become  members  of  his  school. 
This  he  can  do  without  any  ceremony,  simply  saying  to 
them  that,  as  he  has  been  appointed  their  teacher,  he  is 
desirous  as  far  as  he  may  to  ascertain  their  wants,  in 
order  to  be  as  prompt  as  possible  in  the  organization  of 
his  school.  He  will  of  course  see  the  children  them- 
selves. From  them  he  can  learn  what  was  the  organi- 
zation of  the  school  under  his  predecessor;  how  many 
studied  geography,  how  many  arithmetic,  grammar, 
etc. ;  and  he  can  also  learn  whether  the  former  organi- 
zation  was    satisfactory   to   the    district    or   not.     The 


250  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

modes  of  government  and  the  methods  of  interesting 
the  pupils  practiced  by  the  former  teacher  would  be 
likely  to  be  detailed  to  him ;  and  from  the  manner  of 
both  parents  and  children  he  could  judge  whether 
similar  methods  would  still  be  desirable  in  the  district. 
By  calling  on  several  of  the  largest  families  in  this  way, 
he  would  learn  beforehand  very  accurately  the  state  of 
the  school  and  the  state  of  the  district. 

I  will  take  this  occasion  to  insist  that  the  teacher  in 
these  visits  should  heartily  discourage  any  forwardness, 
so  common  among  children,  to  disparage  a  former 
teacher.  It  should  be  his  sole  object  to  gain  useful 
information.  He  should  give  no  signs  of  pleasure  in 
listening  to  any  unfavorable  statements  as  to  his  prede- 
cessor ;  and  I  may  add  that  during  the  progress  of  the 
school  he  should  ever  frown  upon  any  attempt  on 
the  part  of  the  pupils  to  make  comparisons  derogatory 
to  a  former  teacher.  This  is  a  practice  altogether  too 
prevalent  in  our  schools ;  and  I  am  sorry  to  say  there 
are  still  too  many  teachers  who  are  mean  enough 
to  countenance  it.  Such  a  course  is  unfair,  because 
the  absent  party  may  be  grossly  misrepresented;  it 
is  dangerous,  because  it  tends  to  cultivate  a  spirit  of 
detraction  in  the  young;  and  it  is  mean,  because  the 
party  is  absent  and  has  no  opportunity  of  defending 
himself. 

Another  important  advantage  of  the  visits  proposed 
would  be  that  he  would  make  the  acquaintance  of  many 
of  the  children  beforehand ;  and  very  likely,  too,  if  he 
should  go  in  the  right  spirit  and  with  agreeable  man- 
ners he  would  make  a  favorable  impression  upon  them, 
and  thus  he  would  have  personal  friends  on  his  side  to 
begin  with.     The  parents,  too,  would  see  that  he  took 


SCHOOL   ARRANGEMENTS  25  I 

an  interest  in  his  employment;  that  he  had  come 
among  them  in  the  spirit  of  his  vocation  —  in  the  spirit 
of  earnestness ;  and  they  would  immediately  become 
interested  in  his  success,  —  a  point  of  no  small  impor- 
tance. 

I  might  here  caution  the  teacher  against  a  very  com- 
mon error.  He  should  not  confine  his  visits  to  the 
more  wealthy  and  influential  families.  The  poor  and 
the  humble  should  receive  his  attentions  as  soon  as  the 
rich.  From  the  latter  class  very  likely  a  large  portion 
of  his  school  will  come;  and  it  is  wrong  in  principle  as 
well  as  policy  to  neglect  those  who  have  not  been  as 
successful  as  others  in  the  one  item  of  accumulating 
property. 

On  the  day  of  opening  the  school  he  should  be  early 
at  the  schoolhouse.  Mr.  Abbott,  in  his  "  Teacher,"  has 
some  valuable  suggestions  on  this  point.  "  It  is  desir- 
able,' '  he  says,  "that  the  young  teacher  should  meet 
his  scholars  at  first  in  an  unofficial  capacity.  For  this 
purpose  he  should  repair  to  the  schoolroom  on  the  first 
day  at  an  early  hour,  so  as  to  see  and  become  acquainted 
with  the  scholars  as  they  come  in  one  by  one.  He  may 
take  an  interest  with  them  in  all  the  little  arrangements 
connected  with  the  opening  of  the  school, — the  build- 
ing of  the  fire,  the  paths  through  the  snow,  the  arrange- 
ment of  seats  :  calling  upon  them  for  information  or 
aid,  asking  their  names,  and,  in  a  word,  entering  fully 
and  freely  into  conversation  with  them,  just  as  a  parent 
under  similar  circumstances  would  do  with  his  children. 
All  the  children  thus  addressed  will  be  pleased  with  the 
gentleness  and  affability  of  the  teacher.  Even  a  rough 
and  ill-natured  boy,  who  has  perhaps  come  to  the  school 
with  the  express  determination  of  attempting  to  make 


252  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

mischief,  will  be  completely  disarmed  by  being  asked 
pleasantly  to  help  the  teacher  fix  the  fire,  or  alter  the 
position  of  a  desk.  Thus  by  means  of  the  half  hour 
during  which  the  scholars  are  coming  together,  the 
teacher  will  find  when  he  calls  upon  the  children  to 
take  their  seats  that  he  has  made  a  large  number  of 
them  his  personal  friends.  Many  of  these  will  have 
communicated  their  first  impressions  to  others,  so  that 
he  will  find  himself  possessed,  at  the  outset,  of  that 
which  is  of  vital  consequence  in  opening  any  adminis- 
tration —  a  strong  party  in  his  favor." 

It  will  be  well  for  the  teacher  for  several  days,  both 
in  the  morning  and  afternoon,  to  be  early  at  the  school- 
room. He  can  thus  continue  his  friendly  intercourse 
with  the  pupils,  and  effectually  prevent  any  concerted 
action  among  them  at  that  hour  to  embarrass  his  gov- 
ernment. 

Many  a  school  has  been  seriously  injured,  if  not 
broken  up,  by  the  scholars'  being  allowed  to  assem- 
ble early  at  the  school  with  nothing  to  occupy  them 
and  no  one  to  restrain  them.  Having  so  convenient 
an  opportunity  for  mischief,  their  youthful  activity 
will  be  very  likely  to  find  egress  in  an  evil  direction. 
Many  a  tale  of  roguery  could  be  told,  founded  upon 
the  incidents  of  the  schoolroom  before  school  hours, 
if  those  who  have  good  memories  would  but  reveal 
their  own  experience ;  —  roguery  that  never  would 
have  occurred  had  the  teacher  adopted  the  course  here 
suggested. 

SECTION    I. PLAN    OF    THE    DAY*S    WORK 

It  may  be  remembered  by  many  of  the  readers  of 
this  volume,  that  in  former  times  numerous  teachers 


SCHOOL  ARRANGEMENTS  2$$ 

were  accustomed  to  work  without  a  plan,  attempting 
to.  do  their  work  just  as  it  happened  to  demand  atten- 
tion, but  never  taking  the  precaution  to  have  this  de- 
mand under  their  own  control.  If  one  scholar  or  class 
was  not  ready  to  recite,  another  would  be  called ;  and 
there  being  no  particular  time  for  the  various  exercises, 
the  school  would  become  a  scene  of  mere  listlessness ; 
and  the  teacher  would  hardly  know  how  to  find  em- 
ployment for  himself  in  the  school. 

I  shall  make  this  point  clearer  by  an  example.  Hav- 
ing occasion,  in  an  official  capacity,  to  visit  a  school 
which  had  been  kept  by  a  young  teacher  some  two 
weeks,  she  very  naturally  asked  —  "  What  shall  I  do 
first,  this  afternoon  ? " 

"Do  precisely  as  you  would  if  I  had  not  come  in," 
was  the  reply. 

She  looked  a  little  perplexed.  At  length  she  doubt- 
ingly  asked  the  class,  —  "  Is  the  geography  lesson 
ready  ? " 

"Yes,  m'm  "  —  "  No,  m'm  "  —  "  Yes,  mm  M  —  was  the 
ambiguous  reply  from  the  class.  There  was  so  much 
of  veto  in  the  looks  of  the  young  geographers  that  it 
amounted  to  prohibition. 

"Well,  are  the  scholars  in  Colburn's  arithmetic 
ready  ? " 

This  was  said  with  more  of  hope;  but  the  same 
equivocal  answer  was  vociferated  from  all  parts  of  the 
room.  The  teacher,  placing  her  finger  upon  her  lip, 
looked  around  despairingly;  but,  at  last  recollecting 
one  more  resort,  she  said,  —  "Is  the  grammar  class 
ready?" 

Again  came  the  changes  on  "  Yes,  m'm  "  and  "  No, 
m  m. 


254  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

The  teacher  gave  up,  and  asked  what  she  should  do. 
She  was  again  told  to  go  on  as  usual  for  that  afternoon. 
It  was  a  tedious  afternoon  to  her,  as  it  was  to  her  visitor. 
She  at  length  called  one  of  the  classes,  unprepared  as 
many  of  them  said  they  were,  and  the  exercise  showed 
that  none  but  those  who  said  "  Yes,  m'm  "  were  mis- 
taken. The  whole  afternoon  seemed  to  be  one  of  pain 
and  mortification  to  all  concerned  ;  and  I  fancied  I  could 
almost  read  in  the  knitted  brow  of  the  teacher  a  decla- 
ration that  that  should  be  her  last  school. 

At  the  close  of  the  afternoon  a  single  hint  was  sug- 
gested to  her,  — viz.,  that  she  should  make  out  a  list  of 
her  scholars'  duties,  and  the  times  when  they  would  be 
expected  to  recite  their  several  lessons.  She  was  told 
that  it  would  be  well  to  explain  this  plan  of  her  day's 
work  to  her  school  in  the  morning,  and  then  never  again 
ask  whether  a  class  was  ready.  The  hint  was  taken ; 
and  on  subsequent  visitations  the  several  classes  were 
ever  ready  to  respond  to  the  call  of  their  instructor. 

Now  this  matter  is  no  unimportant  one  to  the  teacher. 
Indeed  I  judge  of  a  teacher's  ability  very  much  by  the 
wisdom  and  tact  with  which  he  apportions  his  time  for 
his  own  duties,  and  divides  the  time  of  his  scholars 
between  their  studies  and  recitations. 

In  order  to  aid  the  young  teacher  in  forming  a  plan 
for  himself,  I  subjoin  a  scheme  of  a  day's  duties,  adapted 
to  a  school  of  the  simplest  grade.  Suppose  a  school  to 
consist  of  thirty  scholars,  and  that  the  teacher  finds 
by  inquiry  and  by  examination  that  there  may  be  four 
grand  divisions ;  the  first,  which  he  designates  [A],  may 
unite  in  pursuing  Reading,  Grammar,  Mental  Arith- 
metic, Written  Arithmetic,  and  Writing.  The  second, 
[B],  can  pursue  Reading,  Spelling,  Writing,  Geography, 


SCHOOL   ARRANGEMENTS  255 

Mental  and  Written  Arithmetic.  The  third,  [C],  attend 
to.  Reading,  Spelling,  Mental  Arithmetic,  Writing,  and 
Geography.  The  fourth,  [D],  consisting  of  the  small 
pupils,  attend  to  Reading,  Spelling,  Tables,  and  sundry 
slate  exercises. 

Now  it  is  very  desirable  that  as  much  time  should 
be  devoted  to  recitation  as  can  be  afforded  to  each  class. 
It  may  be  seen  at  once  that  in  certain  studies,  as  ge- 
ography, mental  arithmetic,  and  spelling  —  the  teacher 
can  as  well  attend  to  fifteen  at  once  as  to  seven.  In 
these  studies,  unless  the  disparity  in  age  and  attainment 
is  very  great,  two  divisions  can  very  properly  be  united. 
All  can  be  taught  writing  at  once,  thus  receiving  the 
teacher's  undivided  attention  for  the  time.  Besides,  it 
is  necessary  to  reserve  some  little  time  for  change  of 
exercises,  and  also  for  the  interruptions  which  must 
necessarily  occur.  The  recesses  are  to  be  provided  for, 
and  some  time  may  be  needed  for  investigation  of 
violations  of  duty  and  for  the  punishment  of  offenders. 
All  this  variety  of  work  will  occur  in  every  school,  even 
the  smallest. 

Now  if  the  teacher  does  not  arrange  this  in  accord- 
ance with  some  plan,  he  will  be  very  much  perplexed, 
even  in  a  small  school ;  and  how  much  more  in  a  large 
one!  He  will  do  well  very  carefully  to  consider  the 
relative  importance  of  each  exercise  to  be  attended  to, 
and  then  to  write  out  his  scheme  somewhat  after  the 
following  model. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  studying  is  also  to  be 
provided  for,  and  that  it  is  just  as  important  that  the 
pupils  should  be  regular  in  this  as  in  recitation.  Indeed, 
without  such  regularity,  he  cannot  expect  acceptable 
recitations. 


256 


THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 


PROGRAMME 
For  the  above  supposed  circumstances 


Time. 

M. 

Recitations,  etc. 

Studies. 

9  to  9.15 

15 

Reading,  Script.,  &  Prayer. 

9.15  to  9.40 

25 

(  D.   Reading,     Spelling,    or  | 
j      Tables.                                 J 

A.   Reading;     B.   Arith. ; 
C.  Geography. 

9.40  to  9.42 

2 

Rest,  Change  of  Classes,  etc. 

9.42  to  10 

18 

A.  Reading. 

i  B.    Arith. ;      C.    Geog. ; 
j      D.  Slates. 

10  to  10.5 

5 

(  Rest,    Singing,    or    An-  j 
\     swering  Questions.      j 

10.5  to  10.25 

20 

B.  Arithmetic. 

j  A.   Gram. ;      C.   Geog. ; 
\\      D.  Books  or  Cards. 

10.25  to  10.28 

3 

Rest,  etc. 

10.28  to  10.48 

20 

B.  &  C.  Geography. 

A.  Gram. ;  D.  Recess. 

10.48  to  II 

12 

Recess. 

11  to  11.15 
11.15  to  11.35 
11.35  to  "-S0 

15 
20 

IS 

D.  Reading,  etc. 

A.  Grammar. 

B.  &  C.  Spelling. 

(  A.  Gram. ;  B.  M.  Arith. ; 

\      C.  Spelling. 

jB.  Spelling;  C. Spelling; 

j      D.  Slates. 

1  A.  M.  Arith.;  D.  Books 

j      or  Cards. 

II.50  tO  12 

10 

General  Exercise. 

Intermission. 

2  tO  2.15 

2.15  to  2.45 
2.45  to  3.10 

3.10  to  3.30 

15 

30 
25 
20 

D.  Reading,  Spelling,  Tables. 

A.  B.  &  C.  Writing. 

A.  &  B.  Mental  Arithmetic. 

C.  Reading. 

(  A.  Arith.;   B.  Reading; 

j      C.  Reading. 

D.  Slates. 

C.  M.  Arith. ;  D.  Recess. 

j  A.    Arith.;     B.    Arith.; 

j      D.  Books,  etc. 

3.30  to  3.40 

10 

Recess. 

3.40  to  4 

20 

B.  Reading. 

(A.  Arith.;  C.  M.  Arith.; 
j      D.  Drawing. 

4  to  4.5 

5 

Rest  or  Singing. 

4-5  to  4.25 
4.25  to  4.55 

20 
30 

C.  Mental  Arithmetic. 
A.  Arithmetic. 

(  A.   Read.;    B.  Arith.   or 
|      Draw.;  D.  Slates. 
(  B.  Arith.  or  Draw. ;    C. 
j      Draw. ;  D.  Dismissed. 

4-55  to  5 

5 

Gen.  Exer.  and  Dismission. 

SCHOOL  ARRANGEMENTS  2^7 

Remarks 

In  the  foregoing  programme  the  first  column  shows 
the  division  of  time  and  the  portion  allowed  to  each 
exercise.  I  need  not  say  the  teacher  should  be  strictly 
punctual.  To  this  end  a  clock  is  a  very  desirable 
article  in  the  school.  Both  teacher  and  pupils  would 
be  benefited  by  it.  The  second  column  shows  the 
recitations,  admitting  perhaps  some  variety,  especially 
in  case  of  the  younger  children;  while  the  third  shows 
the  occupation  of  those  classes  which  are  not  engaged 
in  recitation.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  classes  are  study- 
ing those  lessons  which  they  are  soon  to  recite;  and, 
as  in  this  case  it  is  supposed  that  all  the  lessons  will 
be  learned  in  school,  each  one  has  been  provided  for. 
It  would  be  well,  however,  in  practice  to  require  one 
of  the  studies  to  be  learned  out  of  school,  in  which 
case  no  time  should  be  allowed  to  the  study  of  that 
branch  in  the  programme. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  drawing  is  placed  as  the 
occupation  of  the  younger  classes  near  the  close  of  the 
afternoon.  This  is  based  upon  the  supposition  that 
the  teacher  during  recess  has  placed  an  example  on 
the  blackboard  to  be  copied  by  the  children  upon  their 
slates.  This  is  perhaps  the  most  effectual  way  to  teach 
drawing  to  children.  Those  more  advanced,  however, 
may  use  paper  and  pencil  and  draw  from  an  engraved 
copy,  or  from  a  more  finished  specimen  furnished  from 
the  teacher's  portfolio.  It  is  essential  that  the  teacher 
should,  if  possible,  give  some  specimens  of  his  own  in 
this  branch.  I  have  seldom  known  a  teacher  to  excite 
an  interest  in  drawing  who  relied  altogether  upon  en- 
gravings as  models  for  imitation. 

B.-P.   THE.   &   PR.   TEACHING — 1 7 


258  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

It  should  be  remarked  further  concerning  such  a  pro- 
gramme, that  in  case  of  an  assistant  in  the  school  two 
columns  under  the  head  of  Recitations  should  be  formed 
—  one  for  the  principal's  classes  and  one  for  the  assist- 
ant's. If  there  are  a  few  talented  scholars  who  are  able 
to  do  more  than  their  class,  they  can  be  allowed  to  join 
some  of  the  classes  out  of  their  division,  or  they  may  be 
provided  with  an  extra  study,  which  will  not  need  daily 
recitation. 

In  case  the  school  is  much  larger  than  the  one  sup- 
posed above,  and  the  classes  necessarily  so  numerous 
as  to  make  the  time  allowed  to  each  study  very  short, 
then  the  principle  of  alternation  may  be  introduced; 
that  is,  some  studies  may  be  recited  Mondays,  Wednes- 
days, and  Fridays,  —  and  some  other  studies,  with  other 
classes,  take  their  places  on  the  alternate  days.  It  is 
decidedly  better  for  the  teacher  to  meet  a  class,  in 
arithmetic  for  instance,  especially  of  older  pupils,  but 
twice  or  three  times  a  week,  having  time  enough  at 
each  meeting  to  make  thorough  work,  than  to  meet 
them  daily,  but  for  a  time  so  short  as  to  accomplish 
but  little.  The  same  remark  may  be  applied  to  read- 
ing, and  indeed  almost  any  other  branch.  The  idea  is 
a  mischievous  one,  that  every  class  in  reading,  or  in  any 
other  branch,  must  be  called  out  four  times  a  day,  or 
even  twice  a  day,  —  except  in  the  case  of  very  young 
children.  It  may  be  compared  to  nibbling  at  a  cracker 
as  many  times  in  a  day,  without  once  taking  a  hearty 
meal,  —  a  process  which  would  emaciate  any  child  in 
the  course  of  three  months.  These  scanty  nibblings 
at  the  table  of  knowledge,  so  often  and  so  tenaciously 
practiced,  may  perhaps  account  for  the  mental  emacia- 
tion so  often  discoverable  in  many  of  our  schools. 


SCHOOL  ARRANGEMENTS  2$$ 

The  difficulty  of  classifying  and  arranging  the  exer- 
cises of  a  school  becomes  greater  as  the  number  of 
teachers  to  be  employed  increases ;  and  there  is  much 
greater  inconvenience  in  allowing  any  pupils  to  study 
out  of  their  own  division  when  the  number  of  teachers 
is  more  than  one  or  two.  Few  are  aware  of  the  diffi- 
culty of  arranging  the  exercises  of  a  large  school,  but 
those  who  have  experienced  it.  It  can  be  done,  how- 
ever ;  and  it  should  always  be  done  as  soon  as  possible 
after  commencing  the  school. 

If  at  any  time  the  arrangement  when  made  is  not 
found  to  be  perfect,  it  is  not  wise  to  change  it  at  once. 
Let  it  go  on  a  few  days,  and  watch  its  defects  with 
great  care ;  and  in  the  meantime  study  out  of  school  to 
devise  a  better.  When  this  has  been  accomplished  and 
committed  to  paper,  and  perfectly  comprehended  by  the 
teacher,  it  may  be  posted  up  in  the  schoolroom,  and  the 
day  announced  when  it  will  go  into  operation.  It  will 
soon  be  understood  by  the  pupils  and  the  change  can 
thus  be  made  without  the  loss  of  time. 

Time  for  reviews  of  the  various  lessons  could  be 
found  by  setting  aside  the  regular  lessons  for  some  par- 
ticular day,  once  a  week,  or  once  in  two  weeks ;  and  for 
composition,  declamation,  etc.,  a  half  day  should  be 
occasionally  or  periodically  assigned. 

If  I  have  devoted  considerable  space  to  this  subject 
it  is  because  I  deem  it  of  great  importance  to  the 
teacher's  success.  With  one  other  remark  I  dismiss 
it.  This  model  is  not  given  to  be  servilely,  copied. 
It  is  given  to  illustrate  the  great  principle.  The 
circumstances  of  schools  will  be  found  to  vary  so 
widely  that  no  model,  however  perfect  in  itself,  would 


260  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

answer  for  all.  The  teacher  must  exercise  his  own 
ingenuity  and  judgment  to  meet  his  own  wants ;  and 
in  general  it  may  be  remarked  that  where  a  teacher 
has  not  the  skill  to  adapt  his  own  plans  to  his  own 
circumstances,  he  can  hardly  be  expected  to  succeed 
in  carrying  out  the  plans  of  another. 

SECTION    II. INTERRUPTIONS 

In  every  school  consisting  of  pupils  of  different  ages 
and  circumstances,  there  will  be  more  or  less  of  inter- 
ruption to  the  general  order  and  employment  of  the 
school.  Some  of  the  pupils  have  never  been  trained 
to  system  at  home;  perhaps  most  of  them  may  have 
been  positively  taught  to  disregard  it  at  school.  At 
any  rate,  "it  must  needs  be,"  in  this  particular,,  "that 
offenses  come."  Nor  should  the  teacher  lose  his  pa- 
tience though  he  should  be  often  disturbed  by  the 
thoughtlessness  of  his  pupils.  He  should  expect  it  as 
a  matter  of  course  and  exercise  his  ingenuity  as  far  as 
possible  to  prevent  it.  It  may  well  be  one  of  his 
sources  of  enjoyment  to  witness  an  improvement  in 
the  habits  of  his  pupils  in  regard  to  system. 

These  interruptions  proceed  from  various  causes,  — 
such  as  soliciting  leave  to  speak,  or  to  go  out ;  asking 
for  some  assistance  in  learning  lessons,  or  for  leave  to 
drink,  or  to  stand  by  the  fire;  requesting  the  teacher 
to  mend  pens,  or  to  set  copies ;  disorderly  conduct  in 
pupils,  making  it  necessary  in  his  judgment  to  admin- 
ister reproof  or  punishment  in  the  midst  of  other  duties, 
—  and  sometimes  the  vociferous  and  impatient  making 
of  complaints  by  one  scholar  against  another. 

How  many  times  I  have  seen  a  teacher  involved  in 
indescribable   perplexity  while   trying   to   perform   the 


W      OF  T*K 


SCHOOL  ARRANGEMENTS 

duty  of  instruction  and  to  "  get  through "  in  time. 
While  hearing  a  grammar  lesson,  a  scholar  brings  up 
his  atlas  to  have  some  place  pointed  out  which  he  had 
upon  one  trial  failed  to  find.  The  teacher  turning  to 
look  for  the  place  is  addressed  with  "  Please  mend  my 
pen,"  from  another  quarter.  Having  the  knife  in  hand,  as 
if  such  things  were  to  be  expected,  the  obliging  teacher 
takes  the  pen,  and  holding  it  between  his  eyes  and  the 
atlas,  endeavors  to  shape  its  nib  and  to  discover  the 
city  at  the  same  glance.      "Jane  keeps  a  pinching  me," 

—  vociferates  a  little  girl  who  is  seated  behind  the  class. 
"  Jane,  Jane,"  says  the  teacher,  turning  away  from  both 
the  nib  and  the  city,  "  Jane,  come  to  me  instantly."  Jane, 
with  the  guilty  fingers  thrust  far  into  her  mouth,  makes 
her  way  sidling  toward  the  teacher.      "  May  I  go  out  ? " 

—  says  John,  who  is  thinking  only  of  his  own  conven- 
ience. "No,  no"  —  answers  the  teacher,  a  little  pet- 
tishly, as  if  conscious  that  in  a  crisis  like  this  a  request 
simply  to  breathe  more  freely  is  scarcely  justifiable. 
"Please,  sir,  let  me  and  Charles  go  out  and  get  a  pail 
of  water."  This  is  said  by  a  little  shrewd-looking, 
round-faced,  light-haired  boy  who  has  learned  how  to 
select  his  time,  and  to  place  the  emphasis  upon  the 
"please,  sir."  The  teacher  by  this  time  being  corxsid- 
erably  fretted  by  such  an  accumulation  of  business  on 
his  hands  very  naturally  thinks  of  the  refreshment  con- 
tained in  a  pail  of  cool  water,  and  very  good-naturedly 
answers  the  little  urchin  in  the  affirmative,  who  most 
likely  is  by  this  time  more  than  half  way  out  of  the 
door,  so  confident  is  he  of  success.  Just  at  this  junc- 
ture a  considerate-looking  miss  in  the  class  earnestly 
appeals  to  the  teacher  to  know  if  the  word  next  but 
three  to  the  last  was  not  a  common  noun,  though  called 


262  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

a  conjunction  !  This  reminds  the  teacher  that  several 
words  have  been  parsed  without  his  notice,  and  he  asks 
the  class  to  "stop  there/'  Glancing  at  his  watch  he 
discovers  that  he  has  gone  three  minutes  beyond  the 
time  for  recess,  and  he  relieves  himself  by  saying, 
"  Boys  may  go  out."  This  grants  a  truce  to  all  parties. 
The  pen  .goes  back  unmended,  the  atlas  with  its  sought 
city  undiscovered;  John  "goes  out"  now  by  common 
law,  taking  to  himself  the  credit  of  this  happy  release, 
as  he  asked  only  to  remind  the  master  that  it  was  time 
for  recess ;  Jane  takes  both  thumb  and  finger  from  her 
precious  little  mouth,  and  smiling  seats  herself  by  the 
side  of  her  late  challenger,  who  is  by  this  time  more 
than  half  repentant  of  her  own  impatience ;  the  shrewd- 
looking  urchin  and  his  companion  return  with  the  re- 
freshing pail  of  water,  —  the  boys  and  girls  gather 
round  to  obtain  the  first  draught,  while  the  little  chubby- 
faced  lad  comes  forward  clothed  in  smiles  with  a  cup 
filled  with  the  cooling  liquid  on  purpose  for  the  mas- 
ter ;  the  boon  is  accepted,  the  perplexed  brow  becomes 
placid,  and  all  is  sunshine  again.  —  This  is  not  a  very 
extravagant  picture  of  the  interruptions  in  a  district 
school.  Those  who  have  been  brought  up  in  such  a 
school  will  recognize  the  fidelity  of  the  likeness,  as  it 
has  been  drawn  from  nature. 

Now  whoever  has  any  knowledge  of  human  nature 
and  of  school  teaching  will  at  once  see  that  this  is  all 
wrong.  It  is  a  law  of  our  being  that  we  can  do  well 
but  one  thing  at  a  time.  He  who  attempts  more  must 
do  what  he  attempts  but  very  imperfectly.  There  was 
a  great  deal  of  wisdom  embodied  in  that  motto  which 
used  to  be    placed   in   the    old   Lancasterian   schools  : 

"A     TIME    FOR     EVERYTHING,    AND    EVERYTHING     IN     ITS 


SCHOOL   ARRANGEMENTS  263 

time."  It  should  be  one  of  the  mottoes  of  every 
teacher.  In  the  construction  of  the  plan  or  programme 
for  the  day's  duties,  great  care  should  be  taken  to  pro- 
vide for  all  these  little  things.  If  Whispering  is  to  be 
allowed  at  all  in  school  let  it  come  into  one  of  the  inter- 
vals between  recitations.  If  assistance  in  getting  les- 
sons is  to  be  asked  and  rendered,  let  it  be  done  at  a 
time  assigned  for  the  special  purpose.  As  far  as  pos- 
sible, except  in  extreme  cases,  let  the  discipline  be 
attended  to  at  the  time  of  general  exercise,  or  some 
other  period  assigned  to  it,  so  that  there  shall  not  be 
a  ludicrous  mixture  of  punishments  and  instruction  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  a  class  exercise. 

It  is  pleasant  to  visit  a  school  where  everything  is 
done  and  well  done  at  its  proper  time.  Teaching  under 
such  circumstances  becomes  a  delightful  employment. 
But  where  all  is  confusion  and  the  teacher  allows  him- 
self by  the  accumulation  of  irregularities  to  be  oppressed 
and  perplexed,  it  is  one  of  the  most  wearing  and  un- 
desirable vocations  on  earth.  The  teacher  goes  to  his 
lodgings  harassed  with  care,  oppressed  with  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  imperfection  of  his  labors,  and  ex- 
hausted by  the  unnatural  and  unwarrantable  tax 
imposed  upon  his  mental  faculties.  He  groans  under 
the  burden  incident  to  his  calling  and  longs  to  escape 
from  it,  never  once  dreaming,  perhaps,  that  he  has  the 
power  of  relieving  himself  by  the  introduction  of  sys- 
tem, and  thus  changing  his  former  babel  into  a  scene  of 
quietness  and  order. 

SECTION    III.  —  RECESSES 

In  speaking  of  the  arrangements  of  a  school,  the  sub- 
ject of  recesses  demands  attention.     It  is  the  belief  of 


264  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF   TEACHING 

many  enlightened  instructors  that  the  confinement  in 
most  of  our  schools  is  still  too  protracted,  and  that 
more  time  devoted  to  relaxation  would  be  profitable 
both  to  the  physical  and  the  mental  constitution  of  our 
youth.  Some  have  urged  a  recess  of  a  few  minutes 
every  hour  in  order  to  afford  opportunity  for  a  change 
of  position  and  a  change  of  air.  This  could  better  be 
done  in  schools  composed  only  of  one  sex,  or  where  the 
accommodation  of  separate  yards  and  playgrounds  per- 
mits both  sexes  to  take  a  recess  at  the  same  time. 
Where  these  accommodations  are  wanting,  and  one  sex 
must  wait  while  the  other  is  out,  the  time  required  for 
two  recesses  in  half  a  day  for  the  whole  school  could 
scarcely  be  afforded.  I  am  of  the  opinion,  as  our 
schools  are  at  present  composed,  that  one  recess  in  the 
half  day  for  each  sex  is  all  that  can  be  allowed.  The 
question  then  is,  how  can  that  one  recess  be  made  most 
conducive  for  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  designed  ? 

1.  As  to  its  duration.  Ten  minutes  is  the  least  time 
that  should  be  thought  of,  if  the  children  are  to  be  kept 
closely  confined  to  study  during  the  remainder  of  the 
three  hours'  session;  that  is,  ten  minutes  for  each  sex. 
It  would  be  a  very  desirable  thing  if  our  schoolhouses 
could  be  so  furnished  with  separate  playgrounds  and 
separate  outdoor  accommodations  that  both  sexes  could 
take  recess  at  the  same  time.  This  would  save  much 
time  to  the  district  in  the  course  of  a  term,  and  it  would 
also  give  opportunity  for  thoroughly  ventilating  the 
room  during  recess,  while  it  would  afford  the  teacher 
opportunity  to  take  the  air,  and  overlook  the  sports  of 
the  children  to  some  extent,  —  a  matter  of  no  small 
importance. 

Where  these  facilities  are  wanting,  and  the  teacher 


SCHOOL   ARRANGEMENTS  26$ 

must  remain  within  to  preside  over  the  one  half  of  the 
school  while  the  others  are  out,  he  may  still  give  ten 
minutes  at  least  to  each  sex,  contriving  to  employ 
profitably  the  time  within  doors.  He  may  reserve  this 
time  for  settling  such  difficulties  as  may  have  risen  in 
the  school ;  he  may  administer  reproofs,  inflict  his  pun- 
ishments if  any  are  necessary,  or  he  may  spend  the  time 
in  giving  assistance  to  the  pupils,  or  in  drawing  upon 
the  blackboard  for  the  advantage  of  the  younger  pupils 
as  they  come  in.  In  a  large  school,  where  a  longer  re- 
cess is  the  more  necessary  on  account  of  the  bad  air  of 
the  schoolroom,  he  will  find  the  more  duty  to  be  done 
at  this  time ;  so  that  in  any  event  the  time  need  not  be 
lost,  even  if  fifteen  minutes  be  allowed  to  each  sex. 

2.  As  to  the  proper  hour  for  recess.  It  was  an  old  rule 
to  have  recess  when  "  school  was  half  done."  Indeed, 
this  expression  was  often  used  as  synonymous  with  re- 
cess in  many  districts  twenty-five  years  ago.  It  is  now 
generally  thought  better  to  have  the  recess  occur  later, 
perhaps  when  the  school  session  is  two  thirds  past.  It 
is  found  that  children,  accustomed  to  exercise  all  the 
morning,  can  better  bear  the  confinement  of  the  first 
two  hours  than  they  can  that  of  the  third,  even  though 
the  recess  immediately  precedes  the  third.  In  a  school 
the  half-daily  sessions  of  which  are  three  hours,  I 
should  recommend  that  the  recess  be  introduced  so 
as  to  terminate  at  the  close  of  the  second  hour.  As 
far  as  possible  it  would  be  well  to  have  all  the  pupils 
leave  the  room  at  the  time  recess  is  given  them ;  and 
as  a  general  thing  they  should  not  ask  leave  to  go  out 
at  any  other  time.  A  little  system  in  this  matter  is  as 
desirable  as  in  any  other,  and  it  is  quite  as  feasible. 

In  a  school  composed  partly  of  very  young  children 


266  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

there  is  no  difficulty  in  giving  such  children  two  recesses 
each  half  day.  Nor  is  there  any  objection  to  such  a 
course.  It  is  more  irksome  to  young  children  to  bear 
confinement  than  to  the  adult ;  especially  as  they  cannot 
be  expected  to  be  constantly  occupied.  It  will  relieve 
the  teacher  very  much  to  have  the  children  go  out  of  the 
room  as  soon  as  they  become  fatigued,  and  as  it  will  pro- 
mote their  own  health  and  happiness  to  go,  it  is  very  jus- 
tifiable to  grant  them  the  privilege.  This  may  properly 
and  easily  be  provided  for  upon  the  programme. 

SECTION    IV. ASSIGNING    LESSONS 

Many  teachers  fail  in  this  department.  Judging  of 
the  difficulty  of  the  lesson  by  the  ease  with  which  they 
can  acquire  it,  even  in  a  text-book  new  to  themselves, 
they  not  unfrequently  assign  more  than  can  possibly  be 
learned  by  the  children.  They  forget  that  by  long  dis- 
cipline of  mind,  and  by  the  aid  of  much  previously 
acquired  knowledge,  the  lesson  becomes  comparatively 
easy  to  them ;  they  forget,  too,  the  toil  a  similar  lesson 
cost  them  when  they  were  children.  Now  the  effect  of 
poorly  learning  a  lesson  is  most  ruinous  to  the  mind  of 
a  child.  He,  by  the  habit  of  missing,  comes  to  think  it 
a  small  thing  to  fail  at  recitation.  He  loses  his  self- 
respect.  He  loses  all  regard  for  his  reputation  as  a 
scholar.  It  is  truly  deplorable  to  see  a  child  fail  in  a 
lesson  with  indifference.  Besides,  the  attempt  to  ac- 
quire an  unreasonable  lesson  induces  superficial  habit 
of  study,  —  a  skimming  over  the  surface  of  things. 
The  child  studies  that  he  may  live  through  the  recita- 
tion ;  not  that  he  may  learn  and  remember.  He  passes 
thus  through  a  book  and  thinks  himself  wise  while  he  is 
yet  a  fool,  —  a  mistake  that  is  no  less  common  than  fatal. 


SCHOOL   ARRANGEMENTS  267 

The  motto  of  the  wise  teacher  should  be :  "  Not 
how  much,  but  how  well."  He  should  always  ask, 
is  it  possible  that  the  child  can  master  this  lesson,  and 
probable  that  he  will  ?  It  is  better  that  a  class  should 
make  but  very  slow  progress  for  several  weeks,  if  they 
but  acquire  the  habit  of  careful  study  and  a  pride  of 
good  scholarship  —  a  dread  of  failure,  —  than  that  they 
should  ramble  over  a  whole  field,  firing  at  random,  miss- 
ing oftener  than  they  hit  the  mark,  and  acquiring  a 
stupid  indifference  to  their  reputation  as  marksmen,  and 
a  prodigal  disregard  to  their  waste  cf  ammunition,  and 
their  loss  of  the  game. 

In  assigning  lessons  the  importance  of  good  habits  of 
study  should  be  considered,  and  the  lessons  given  ac- 
cordingly. At  the  commencement  of  a  term  the  les- 
sons should  always  be  short,  till  the  ability  of  the  pupils 
is  well  understood,  and  their  habits  as  good  students 
established.  As  the  term  progresses,  they  can  be  gradu- 
ally lengthened  as  the  capacity  of  the  class  will  warrant 
or  their  own  desire  will  demand. 

It  is  frequently  judicious  to  consult  the  class  about 
the  length  of  the  lessons ;  though  to  be  sure  their 
judgment  cannot  always  be  relied  on,  for  they  are 
almost  always  ready  to  undertake  more  than^jthey 
can  well  perform.  Assigning,  however,  somewhat  less 
than  they  propose,  will  take  from  them  all  excuse  for 
failure. 

When  the  lesson  is  given,  a  failure  should  be  looked 
upon  as  a  culpable  dereliction  of  duty,  as  incompatible 
with  a  good  conscience  as  it  is  with  good  scholar- 
ship. This  high  ground  cannot  be  taken,  however, 
unless  the  teacher  has  been  very  judicious  in  the  assign- 
ment of  the  lesson. 


268          THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 
SECTION   V. REVIEWS 

In  the  prosecution  of  study  by  any  class  of  students 
frequent  reviews  are  necessary.  This  is  so,  because  the 
memory  is  very  much  aided  by  repetition  and  by  asso- 
ciation. But  further,  the  understanding  is  often  very 
much  improved  by  a  review.  Many  of  the  sciences 
cannot  be  presented  in  independent  parts  nor  can  all 
the  terms  employed  be  fully  appreciated  till  these  parts 
are  again  viewed  as  a  whole.  Many  things  which  were 
but  dimly  seen  the  first  time  they  were  passed  over, 
become  perfectly  clear  to  the  mind  when  viewed  after- 
ward in  connection  with  what  follows  them. 

In  conducting  reviews  regard  must  be  had  to  the  age 
and  character  of  the  pupils  and  to  the  branch  pursued. 
In  arithmetic,  and  indeed  in  mathematics  generally, 
where  so  much  depends  upon  every  link  in  the  great 
chain,  very  frequent  reviews  are  necessary.  Indeed, 
almost  daily  it  is  profitable  to  call  up  some  principle 
before  gone  over.  In  several  branches,,  where  the 
parts  have  a  less  intimate  connection,  as  in  geography, 
natural  philosophy,  and  some  others,  the  reviews  may 
be  at  greater  intervals.  It  would  be  well,  I  think,  in 
every  common  school,  to  have  a  review  day  once  a 
week.  This,  besides  the  advantages  already  indicated, 
will  lead  the  children  to  study  for  something  beyond 
recitation.  Nor  is  it  enough,  at  the  review,  that  the 
questions  of  the  text-book  be  again  proposed  to  the 
children.  If  this  be  all  they  will  only  exercise  their 
memories.  As  far  as  possible  the  subject  should  be 
called  up  and  application  of  principles  to  practical  life 
should  be  dwelt  upon.  If  this  course  is  expected  by 
the  learners,  they  will  think  during  the  week  in  order  to 


SCHOOL  ARRANGEMENTS  269 

anticipate  the  examination  of  the  teacher ;  and  this  think- 
ing  is  more  profitable  to  them  than  the  knowledge  itself. 
It  is  always  well,  besides  the  periodical  reviews,  to 
have  a  general  review  at  the  close  of  any  particular 
study.  This  enables  the  teacher  to  detect  any  false 
conceptions  which  the  pupil  has  entertained  during  the 
first  course.  He  can  now  present  the  subject  as  a 
whole,  and  view  one  part  by  the  light  of  another.  In 
natural  philosophy,  how  much  better  the  law  of  re- 
flected motion  can  be  appreciated  after  the  subject  of 
optics  has  been  studied,  in  which  the  doctrine  of  reflec- 
tion in  general  has  been  fully  discussed  and  illustrated. 
In  physiology,  what  light  is  thrown  upon  the  process 
of  growth  in  the  system  by  the  subsequent  chapters  on 
absorption  and  secretion !  How  much  clearer  is  the 
economy  of  respiration  understood  when  viewed  in  con- 
nection with  the  circulation  of  the  blood !  A  general 
review  then  is  an  enlightening  process,  and  it  is  always 
profitable  with  perhaps  one  exception.  When  it  is 
instituted  with  reference  to  a  public  examination,  it 
is  very  doubtful  whether  the  evil  is  not  greater  than 
the  good.  It  then  degenerates  into  an  effort  to  appear 
well  at  a  particular  time ;  it  is  again  studying  in  order 
to  recite ;  and  I  look  upon  it  as  no  small  evil,  that  the 
mind  should  have  any  object  in  view  which  comes  in 
between  it  and  the  grand  desire  to  know,  —  to  master 
the  subject  for  its  own  sake,  and  not  simply  for  the 
purpose  of  being  able  to  talk  about  it  on  one  great 
occasion. 

SECTION   VI. PUBLIC   EXAMINATIONS,    ETC. 

It  is  now  the  usage  in  all  our  schools  to  have  public 
examinations,  —  generally  at  the  close  of  a  term,  or  a 


270  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

portion  of  a  terra,  —  in  order  to  test  in  some  measure 
the  industry  and  skill  of  the  teacher  and  the  proficiency 
of  the  pupils.  I  am  hardly  prepared  to  oppose  this 
usage,  because  I  am  inclined  to  believe  examinations 
are  of  some  utility  as  a  means  of  awakening  an  interest 
in  the  parents  of  the  children ;  perhaps  they  do  some- 
thing to  stimulate  school  officers,  and  also  to  excite  to 
greater  effort  during  the  term  both  the  teacher  and  the 
pupils.  Still,  public  examinations  as  frequently  con- 
ducted are  not  without  serious  objections. 

1.  They  certainly  cannot  be  looked  upon  as  criterions 
of  the  faithfulness  or  success  of  teachers.  A  man  with 
tact,  and  without  honesty,  may  make  his  school  appear 
to  far  greater  advantage  than  a  better  man  can  make  a 
better  school  appear.  This  has  often  happened.  .  It  is 
not  the  most  faithful  and  thorough  teaching  that  makes 
the  show  and  attracts  the  applause  at  a  public  exhibi- 
tion. It  is  the  superficial,  mechanical,  memoriter  exer- 
cise that  is  most  imposing.  Who  has  not  seen  a  class 
that  recited  by  note  and  in  concert  at  a  celebration  win 
the  largest  approbation,  when  many  of  the  individuals 
knew  not  the  import  of  the  zvords  they  uttered.  Names 
in  geography  have  been  thus  "  said  or  sung,"  when  the 
things  signified  were  to  the  children  as  really  terra  in- 
cognita as  the  fairylands  of  Sinbad  the  Sailor. 

2.  Nor  can  such  exhibitions  be  claimed  justly  to  in- 
dicate the  proficiency  of  the  pupils.  Every  experienced 
teacher  knows  that  the  best  scholars  often  fail  at  a 
public  examination,  and  the  most  indolent  and  superfi- 
cial often  distinguish  themselves.  The  spectators  not 
unfrequently  in  pointing  out  the  ta lent  of  ~the  school 
make  the  teacher  smile  at  their  blunders. 

3.  They  present  a  strong  temptation  to  dishonesty 


SCHOOL   ARRANGEMENTS  2J\ 

on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  Since  so  much  stress  is  laid 
upon  the  examination,  and  particularly  in  some  regions 
upon  the  Celebration,  where  several  schools  are  brought 
together  to  make  a  show  for  a  few  hours,  it  must  be 
rather  an  uncommon  man  who  will  have  sufficient  prin- 
ciple to  exhibit  his  school  as  it  is,  and  refuse  to  make 
those  efforts  so  very  common  to  have  it  appear  what  it 
is  not.  The  wish,  expressed  or  implied,  of  the  parents, 
and  the  ambition  of  the  children  all  conspire  to  make 
the  teacher  yield  to  a  usage  so  common.  Consequently, 
several  weeks  will  be  spent  to  prepare  the  children  to 
appear  in  public.  During  this  time,  they  study  not  for 
improvement,  not  for  future  usefulness,  but  simply  to 
make  a  show  at  the  public  celebration.  An  unworthy 
and  unwarrantable  motive  actuates  them  during  all  this 
process;  and  at  last,  unless  strangely  benighted,  they 
are  conscious  of  holding  up  a  false  appearance  to  the 
world.  Now,  under  such  circumstances,  whatever  of 
good  is  effected  by  way  of  enkindling  a  zeal  in  the  par- 
ents is  dearly  purchased.  The  sacrifice  of  principle  in 
a  teacher  —  much  more  in  the  children  —  is  a  large 
price  to  pay  for  the  applause  of  a  few  visitors,  or  even 
for  an  increase  of  interest  among  them  in  the  cause  of 
popular  education. 

Examinations,  however,  which  are  less  showy^and 
which  are  of  such  a  character  as  thoroughly  to  sift  the 
teachings  that  have  been  given,  and  to  thwart  any  in- 
genious efforts  specially  to  prepare  for  them  — examina- 
tions that  look  back  to  the  general  teaching  of  the  term, 
or  the  year,  and  test  the  accuracy  and  thoroughness  of 
the  instruction  —  are  unquestionably  very  desirable  and 
useful.  To  make  them  so  in  the  highest  sense,  and  to 
exempt  them  from  an  evil  tendency  upon  the  minds  of 


27^  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

the  young  themselves,  the  teacher  should  be  strictly  hon- 
est. Not  a  lesson  should  be  given  with  sole  reference 
to  the  exhibition  at  the  close ;  not  an  exercise  should  be 
omitted  because  the  examination  approaches.  The  good 
teacher  should  keep  those  great  motives  before  the  mind 
which  look  to  future  usefulness  and  to  the  discharge  of 
duty.  The  child  should  be  taught  that  he  is  accounta- 
ble for  what  he  acquires,  and  what  he  may  acquire,  and 
not  for  what  he  may  appear  to  have  acquired  ;  and  that 
this  accountability  is  not  confined  to  a  single  day,  soon 
to  pass  and  be  forgotten  ;  but  it  runs  through  all  time 
and  all  eternity. 

I  know  not  but  the  expectation  of  an  examination 
may  stimulate  some  to  greater  exertion  and  make  them 
better  scholars.  If  this  be  so,  it  may  be  well  enough ; 
and  yet  I  should  be  slow  to  present  such  a  motive  to 
the  mind  of  a  child,  because  a  special  or  secondary 
accountability  always  detracts  from  the  general  and 
chief. 

A  strong  reason,  in  addition  to  those  already  assigned, 
why  special  preparation  should  not  be  made  for  the  ex- 
amination, is,  that  where  such  preparation  is  expected, 
the  pupils  become  careless  in  their  ordinary  exercises. 

While,  then,  I  think  too  much  stress  is  at  present 
placed  upon  showy  exhibitions  and  celebrations,  and 
that  objections  and  dangers  attend  examinations,  as  fre- 
quently conducted,  I  would  not  recommend  altogether 
their  discontinuance.  I  would  rather  urge  that  the 
teacher,  by  his  inflexible  honesty,  should  make  them 
fair  representations  of  the  actual  condition  of  his  school, 
without  relying  very  much  upon  them  as  a  means  of 
stimulating  the  pupils  to  exertion  ;  that  the  pupils  should 
be  made  to  feel  that  the  results  of  their  exertion  through 


SCHOOL   ARRANGEMENTS  273 

the  term,  rather  than  a  few  special  efforts  near  its  close, 
would  be  brought  into  review  ;  that  no  hypocrisy  or 
management  should  ever  be  tolerated  in  order  to  win 
the  applause  of  the  multitude ;  that  no  particular  les- 
sons should  ever  be  assigned  for  the  occasion  ;  that  it 
should  be  remembered  that  the  moral  effect  of  an  occa- 
sional failure  at  examination  will  be  more  salutary  upon 
the  school  than  unbroken  success ;  and  that  the  chil- 
dren are  irreparably  injured  when  they  are  made  in  any 
way  the  willing  instruments  of  false  pretension. 

Under  such  circumstances  examinations  may  be  prof- 
itable to  all  concerned.  If  teacher  and  pupils  have  done 
well,  they  have  the  opportunity  of  showing  it  with- 
out violence  to  their  own  consciences.  The  employers, 
and  patrons  too,  have  some  means  of  forming  a  correct 
estimate  of  the  value  of  their  school ;  and  all  parties 
may  be  encouraged   and    stimulated.       But   above   all 

things,  LET    THE    TEACHER    BE    HONEST. 
TOPICAL   OUTLINE 

I.    The  First  Day  of  School. 

Read:  Baldwin's  Art  of  School  Management,  pp.  114- 
117. 
DeGrafFs  Schoolroom  Guide,  pp.  390-406. 

1.  Have  a  plan  to  start  with. 

(1)  The  value  of  having  one. 

(2)  The  results  of  not  having  one. 

2.  Suggestions. 

(1)  Before  the  opening  day  : 

a.  Visit  the  community.     Form  acquaintances 

pleasantly. 

b.  Ascertain  the  situation  thoroughly. 

c.  Get  hold  of  the  former  teacher's  class  records 

and  daily  programme. 

d.  Learn  his  methods  and  plans. 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING —  1 8 


274  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

e.  Discourage  disparagement  of  him. 

f.  Visit  the  schoolhouse  and  set  it  to  rights. 
(2)  The  opening  day : 

#.  Get  to  the  schoolhouse  early. 

b.  Begin  on  time. 

c.  Opening  exercises. 

d.  Only  the  briefest  speech.     Get  to  work. 

e.  Adopt  your  predecessor's  classifications  and 

programme  and  vary  from  these  gradually 
and  adroitly,  as  may  be  necessary  later. 
/.   Make  class  rolls  quickly  as  classes  are  called, 
and  assign  lessons  rapidly. 

g.  Settle  down  to  work  regularly. 

h.   Close  with  a  pleasant,  general  exercise. 

3.  Working  without  a  well -planned  daily  programme. 

(1)  Illustration. 

(2)  The  effects  of  it. 

4.  A  specimen  programme. 

Read :    Baldwin's  Art  of  School  Management, 
Part  IV.,  Chap.  V. 
White's  School  Management,  pp.  86-94. 

(1)  Follow  your    programme  faithfully.      Perfect   it 

gradually. 

(2)  Indicate  a  system  of  study  periods  as  well  as  of 

recitation  periods. 

(3)  Assign  reasonable  home  work. 

(4)  Have  drawing  in  your  school. 

Read  :  Spencer's  Education,  pp.  127-134.    (Mil- 
lar &  Co.) 

(5)  Provide  for  reviews,  compositions,  declamations, 

etc. 

5.  Things  to  be  considered  in  constructing  a  programme. 

(1)  An  equable  distribution  of  recitations. 

(2)  Ample  work  periods  between  recitations. 

(3)  Earlier  in  the  day,  heavier  work  and  longer  periods 

between  recesses. 

(4)  Relieving  the  strain  of  heavy  work  with  lighter 

occupations. 

(5)  As  few  classes  as  possible. 


SCHOOL  ARRANGEMENTS  2J$ 

II.   Interruption, 

i.    Discourage  and  gradually  abolish  interruptions  during 

recitations. 
2.    Provide  stated  intervals  for  them. 

III.  Recesses. 

i .   A  short  recess  each  half  session,  and  a  longer  noon  in- 
termission. 

2.  Time  between  the  recesses  gradually  shortened  as  the 

day  advances. 

3.  Separate  playgrounds  for  the  sexes. 

4.  An  unobtrusive  oversight  of  the  playgrounds  is  necessary. 

5.  Use  the  recesses  for  the  extra  duties  and  demands  of  the 

day. 

6.  Leaving  the  room  between  recesses  will  need  to  be  re- 

duced to  a  minimum. 

I V .  Assigning  Lessons . 

1 .  At  the  beginning  of  the  recitation  as  a  rule,  with  explicit 

directions. 

2.  Teacher  must  consider  the  average  ability  of  the  class. 

3.  Teacher  must  assign  lessons  reasonably  and  require  them 

rigidly. 

(1)  Effects  of  accepting  poorly  prepared  work. 

(2)  Effects  of  overtaxing  classes. 

(3)  The  treatment  of  failures. 

4.  Good  habits  of  study  must  be  cultivated. 

(1)  The  importance  of  learning  how  to  learn. 

Read  :    Morgan's  Studies  in  Pedagogy,  Chap. 
IX. 
Baldwin's  Art  of  School  Management, 
pp.  287-299. 
V.    Reviews. 

1 .  Frequent  regular  reviews. 

2.  Necessary  both  to  memory  and  understanding. 

3.  They  settle  knowledge  into  habit. 

4.  Good  reviews  are  orderly.     They  help  the  pupil  to  or- 

ganize his  knowledge. 

5.  They  are  necessary  to  test  the  weak  places  in  the  teach- 

ing and  the  learning. 

6.  They  look  forward  to  benefits  beyond  the  recitation. 


2?6  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

VI.   Public  Examinations. 

1.  Their  value. 

2.  Objections  to  the  usual  school  exhibition. 

(i)  It  does  not  exhibit  the  teacher  or  the  teaching 
faithfully. 

(2)  Does   not  justly  exhibit  the  proficiency  of  the 

pupils. 

(3)  Easily  arouses  unworthy  motives  in  both  teachers 

and  pupils. 

(4)  Tempts   the  teacher  to  dishonesty  and   breaks 

down  the  pupils'  sense  of  honor. 

(5)  Pupils   become   careless   of   ordinary  and  usual 

duties  ;  the  school  easily  drops  into  disorder. 

3.  An  honest  exhibition. 

(1)  What  is  necessary  to  make  it  so. 

SUBJECTS  FOR  DISCUSSION   OR  ESSAYS 

i .    The  Educational  Values  of  Drawing. 

Spencer's  Education,  pp.  127-134.    (Ed.  of  Millar  &  Co.,  N.Y.) 
Morgan's  Educational  Mosaics,  p.  264. 
Swett's  Methods  of  Teaching,  p.  182. 
Compayre's  Lectures  on  Pedagogy,  pp.  417-427. 

2.  Good  and  Bad  Habits  of  Study. 

Morgan's  Studies  in  Pedagogy,  Chap.  IX. 
Baldwin's  Art  of  School  Management,  pp.  287-299. 
Hoose's  Province  of  Method  in  Teaching,  pp.  163-176. 
Morgan's  Educational  Mosaics,  p.  180. 
Todd's  Student's  Manual,  Chap.  III. 

3.  Show  and  Sham  in  Education. 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE    TEACHER'S    RELATION    TO    THE    PARENTS    OF 
HIS   PUPILS 

He  has  a  chance  to  teach  his  school  well  upon  the  inside,  who 
knows  how  to  influence  the  community  well  upon  the  outside. 

I.  The  teacher  should  carefully  cultivate  the  social 
side  of  his  nature.  In  the  choice  of  a  clergyman,  after 
estimating  his  moral  and  religious  character  and  ascer- 
taining the  order  of  his  pulpit  talents,  a  third  question 
remains  to  be  answered,  viz.  :  What  are  his  qualifica- 
tions as  a  pastor?  How  is  he  adapted  to  fulfill  the 
various  relations  of  private  friend  and  counselor ;  and 
in  the  family  circle,  in  his  intercourse  with  the  aged  and 
the  young,  how  is  he  fitted  to 

"  Allure  to  brighter  worlds  and  lead  the  way  "  ? 

In  that  sacred  profession  every  one  knows  that  nearly 
as  much  good  is  to  be  done  by  private  intercourse  as  in 
the  public  ministration.  Many  a  heart  can  be  reached 
by  a  friendly  and  informal  conversation,  that  would 
remain  unmoved  by  the  most  powerful  eloquence  from 
the  pulpit.  Besides,  many  are  prepared  to  be  profited 
in  the  public  exercises  by  that  intercourse  in  private 
which  has  opened  their  hearts,  removed  prejudice,  and 
engendered  a  feeling  of  friendly  interest  in  the  preacher. 
The  admonitions  of  the  gospel  thus  have  the  double 

277 


278  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

power  of  being  truth,  and  truth  uttered  by  the  lips  of  a 
valued  friend. 

It  is  to  some  extent  thus  with  the  school-teacher. 
He  may  be  very  learned  and  very  apt  to  teach  and 
yet  fail  of  success  in  his  district.  Hence  it  is  highly 
important  that  he  should  possess  and  carefully  cultivate 
those  social  qualities  which  will  greatly  increase  his 
usefulness.  The  teacher  should  consider  it  a  part  of 
his  duty  whenever  he  enters  a  district  to  excite  a  deeper 
interest  there  among  the  patrons  of  the  school  than 
they  have  ever  before  felt.  He  should  not  be  satisfied 
till  he  has  reached  every  mind  connected  with  his 
charge  in  such  a  way  that  they  will  cheerfully  cooper- 
ate with  him  and  sustain  his  judicious  efforts  for  good. 
Being  imbued  with  a  deep  feeling  of  the  importance  of 
his  work,  he  should  let  them  see  that  he  is  alive  to  the 
interests  of  their  children.     To  this  end,  — 

2.  He  should  seek  frequent  opportunities  of  social  inter- 
course with  the  parents.  Though  the  advances  toward 
this  point,  by  the  strict  rules  of  etiquette,  should  be 
made  by  the  parents  themselves  —  (as  by  some  it  is 
actually  and  seasonably  done)  —  yet,  as  a  general  thing, 
taking  the  world  as  we  find  it,  the  teacher  must  lead 
the  way.  He  must  often  introduce  himself  uninvited 
to  the  people  among  whom  he  dwells,  calling  at  their 
homes  in  the  spirit  of  his  vocation,  and  conversing  with 
them  freely  about  his  duty  to  their  children  and  to 
themselves.  Every  parent  of  course  will  feel  bound  to 
be  courteous  and  civil  in  his  own  house ;  and,  by  such 
an  interview,  perhaps  a  difference  of  opinion,  a  preju- 
dice, or  a  suspicion  may  be  removed,  and  the  founda- 
tion of  a  mutual  good  understanding  be  laid,  which 
many  little  troubles  can  never  shake.     It  may  be  very 


TEACHER'S  RELATION   TO    THE  PARENTS       279 

useful  to  have  an  interview  with  such  parents  as  have 
been  disturbed  by  some  administration  of  discipline 
upon  members  of  their  families.  Let  me  not  be  under- 
stood, however,  to  recommend  that  the  teacher  should 
ever  go  to  the  parent  in  a  cringing,  unmanly  spirit.  It 
would  probably  be  far  better  that  the  parties  should 
ever  remain  entire  strangers,  than  that  their  meeting 
should  necessarily  be  an  occasion  of  humiliating  retrac- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  Neither  should  the 
parents  ever  be  allowed  to  expect  that  the  teacher 
always  will  as  a  matter  of  duty  come  to  their  confes- 
sional. But  it  is  believed  if  there  could  be  a  meeting 
of  the  parties  as  men,  as  gentlemen,  as  Christians,  as 
coadjutors  for  the  child's  welfare,  it  would  always  be 
attended  with  good  results. 

3.  He  should  be  willing  to  explain  all  his  plans  to  the 
parents  of  his  pupils.  If  they  had  implicit  confidence 
in  him,  and  would  readily  and  fully  give  him  every 
facility  for  carrying  forward  all  his  designs  without 
explanation,  then  perhaps  this  direction  might  not  be 
necessary.  But  as  the  world  is  he  cannot  expect  spon- 
taneous confidence.  They  wish  to  know  his  designs, 
and  it  is  best  they  should  be  informed  of  them  by  him- 
self. The  best  way  for  the  teacher  to  interest  them  in 
the  business  of  education  will  be  freely  to  converse  with 
them  concerning  the  measures  he  intends  to  adopt.  If 
his  plans  are  judicious,  he  of  course  can  show  good 
reasons  why  they  should  be  carried  into  effect;  and 
parents  are  generally  willing  to  listen  to  reason,  espe- 
cially when  it  is  directed  to  the  benefit  of  their  own  chil- 
dren. Many  a  parent  upon  the  first  announcement  of 
a  measure  in  school,  has  stoutly  opposed  it,  who  upon 
a  little  explanatory  conversation  with  the  teacher,  would 


280  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

entertain  a  very  different  opinion,  and  ever  after  would 
be  most  ready  to  countenance  and  support  it. 

It  seems  to  me  a  teacher  may  safely  encourage  inquiry 
into  all  his  movements  in  school.  There  is  an  old  say- 
ing—  in  my  opinion  a  mischievous  one,  —  which  enjoins 
it  as  a  duty  upon  all,  to  "tell  no  tales  out  of  school."  I 
see  no  objection  to  the  largest  liberty  in  this  matter. 
Why  may  not  everything  be  told,  if  told  correctly  ? 
Parents  frequently  entertain  a  suspicious  spirit  as  to 
the  movements  of  the  teacher.  Would  not  very  much  of 
this  be  done  away  with  if  it  was  understood  there  was  no 
mystery  about  the  school  ?  The  teacher  who  would  thus 
invite  inquiry  would  be  very  careful  never  to  do  anything 
which  he  would  not  be  willing  to  have  related  to  the 
parents,  or  even  to  be  witnessed  by  them.  I  would 
have  no  objection,  if  it  were  possible,  that  walls  of  our 
schoolrooms,  as  you  look  inward,  should  be  transparent, 
so  that  any  individual  unperceived  might  view  with  his 
own  eyes  the  movements  within.  The  consciousness  of 
such  an  oversight  would  work  a  healthy  influence  upon 
those  who  have  too  long  delighted  in  mystery. 

4.  The  teacher  should  encourage  parents  frequently  to 
visit  his  school.  There  is  almost  everywhere  too  great 
backwardness  on  the  part  of  parents  to  do  this  duty. 
The  teacher  should  early  invite  them  to  come  in.  It  is 
not  enough  that  he  do  this  in  general  terms.  He  may 
fix  the  time  and  arrange  the  party  so  that  those  who 
would  assimilate  should  be  brought  together.  It  will 
frequently  be  wise  to  begin  with  the  mothers,  where 
visitation  has  been  unusual.  They  will  soon  bring  in 
the  fathers.  As  often  as  they  come  they  will  be  bene- 
fited. When  such  visits  are  made  the  teacher  should 
not  depart  from  his  usual  course  of  instruction  on  their 


TEACHER'S  RELATION   TO    THE   PARENTS        28 1 

account.  Let  all  the  recitations  and  explanations  be 
attended  to,  all  praises  and  reproofs,  all  rewards  and 
punishments,  be  as  faithfully  and  punctually  dispensed 
as  if  no  person  were  present.  In  other  words,  let  the 
teacher  faithfully  exhibit  the  school  just  as  it  is,  its 
lights  and  its  shadows,  so  that  they  may  see  all  its  work- 
ings and  understand  all  its  trials  as  well  as  its  encour- 
agements. 

Such  visitations  under  such  circumstances  it  is  be- 
lieved would  ever  be  highly  beneficial.  The  teacher's 
difficulties  and  cares  would  be  better  understood  and 
his  efforts  to  be  useful  appreciated.  The  hindrances 
thus  seen  to  impede  his  progress  would  be  promptly 
removed,  and  the  teacher  would  receive  more  cordial 
sympathy  and  support. 

But  if  the  teacher  makes  such  visits  the  occasion  for 
putting  a  false  appearance  upon  the  school ;  if  he  takes 
to  himself  unusual  airs,  such  as  make  him  ridiculous  in 
the  eyes  of  his  pupils,  and  even  in  his  own  estimation  ; 
if  he  attempts  to  bring  before  the  visitors  his  best 
classes,  and  to  impress  them  with  his  own  skill  by 
showing  off  his  best  scholars,  they  will,  sooner  or  later, 
discover  his  hypocrisy,  and  very  likely  despise  him  for 
an  attempt  to  deceive  them. 

5.  The  teacher  should  be  frank  in  all  his  representa- 
tions to  parents  concerning  their  children.  This  is  a 
point  upon  which  many  teachers  most  lamentably  err. 
In  this  as  in  every  other  case,  "  honesty  is  the  best 
policy."  If  an  instructor  informs  a  parent  during  the 
term  that  his  son  is  making  rapid  progress,  or  as  the 
phrase  is  —  "  doing  very  well,"  he  excites  in  him  high 
expectations  ;  and  if  at  the  end  of  the  term  it  turns  out 
otherwise,  the  parent  with  much  justice  may  feel  that 


282  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

he  has  been  injured,  and  may  be  expected  to  load  him 
with  censure  instead  of  praise.  Let  a  particular  an- 
swer, and  a  true  one,  always  be  given  to  the  inquiry  — 
"  How  does  my  child  get  along  ? "  The  parent  has  a 
right  to  know,  and  the  teacher  has  no  right  to  conceal 
the  truth.  Sometimes  teachers,  fearing  the  loss  of  a 
pupil,  have  used  some  indefinite  expression,  which,  how- 
ever, the  doting  parent  is  usually  ready  to  interpret 
to  his  child's  advantage.  But  sooner  or  later  the  truth 
will  appear ;  and  when  the  teacher  is  once  convicted  of 
any  misrepresentation  in  this  particular,  there  is  rarely 
any  forgiveness  for  him.  For  this  reason  and  for  his 
own  love  of  truth,  for  his  own  reputation  and  for  the 
child's  welfare,  he  should  keep  nothing  back.  He 
should  tell  the  whole  story  plainly  and  frankly,  —  and 
the  parent,  if  he  is  a  gentleman,  will  thank  him  for  his 
faithfulness  to  him  ;  and  if  he  has  any  sense  of  justice 
he  will  be  ready  to  cooperate  with  him  for  his  child's 
improvement.  At  any  rate  such  a  course  will  insure 
the  reward  of  a  good  conscience. 

6.  The  teacher,  as  I  have  before  urged,  should  have  the 
habits  and  manners  of  a  gentleman.  He  should  strive 
also  to  acquire  the  ability  to  converse  in  an  easy  and 
agreeable  way,  so  that  his  society  shall  never  be  irk- 
some. He  in  other  words  should  be  a  man  who  does 
not  require  much  entertaining.  Modesty  withal  is  a 
great  virtue  in  the  teacher ;  especially  in  his  intercourse 
with  the  people  of  his  district.  Teachers,  from  their 
almost  constant  intercourse  with  their  pupils,  are  apt 
to  think  their  own  opinions  infallible  ;  and  they  some- 
times commit  the  ridiculous  error  of  treating  others 
wiser  than  themselves  as  children  in  knowledge.  This 
infirmity  incident  to  the  profession  should  be  carefully 


TEACHER'S  RELATION   TO    THE  PARENTS        283 

avoided  ;  and  while  the#  teacher  should  ever  endeavor  to 
make  his  conversation  instructive,  he  should  assume  no 
airs  of  superior  learning  or  infallible  authority.  He 
should  remember  the  truth  in  human  nature,  that  men 
are  best  pleased  to  learn  without  being  reminded  that 
they  are  learners.1 

7.  He  mast  sometimes  stoop  to  conquer.  I  have 
known  some  teachers  who  have  sneered  at  what  they 
have  termed  the  "  outdoor  work"  here  recommended. 
They  have  thrown  themselves  upon  their  dignity,  and 
have  declared  that  when  they  had  done  their  duty 
within  the  schoolroom  they  had  done  all  that  could  be 
expected,  and  that  parents  were  bound  to  cooperate  with 
them  and  sustain  them.  But  after  all  we  must  take  the 
world  as  we  find  it;  and  since  parents  do  not  always 
feel  interested  as  they  should,  I  hold  it  to  be  a  part  of 
the  teacher's  duty  to  excite  their  interest  and  to  win 
them  to  his  aid  by  9.U  the  proper  means  in  his  power. 
In  doing  this  he  will  in  the  most  effectual  way  secure 
the  progress  of  his  school,  and  at  the  same  time  advance 
his  own  personal  improvement. 

TOPICAL  OUTLINE 

I.    The  teacher  should  carefully  ctiltivate  the  social  side  of  his 
nature. 

1.   Why?     [Render  full  reasons.] 
II.  He  should  seek  frequent  opportunities  of  social  intercourse  with 
the  parents. 

1.    How?     2.    Why?     3.    The  effects  of  cringing? 
III.    He  should  be  willing  to  explain  all  his  plans  to  the  parents  of 
his  ptipils. 

1.  Forestall  opposition.     How?     Why? 

2.  Encourage  inquiry.     Why? 

1  "  Men  must  be  taught  as  though  you  taught  them  not, 
And  things  unknown  proposed  as  things  forgot." 


284  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

IV.   He  should  encourage  parents  frequently  to  visit  his  school. 

1.  How?     Why? 

2.  Why  exhibit  the  school  faithfully? 

3.  Reasons  why  parents  are    commonly   disinclined   to 

visit  the  school. 
V.   He  should  be  frank  in  all  his  representations  to  parents  con- 
cerning their  children. 
1.    Why?     How? 
VI.   He  should' have  all  the  habits  and  manners  of  a  gentleman. 

1 .    Some  valuable  qualities  ? 
VII.    He  must  sometimes  stoop  to  conquer. 

1.  Meaning  of  the  expression  ?     Illustrate. 

2.  The  motive  justifying  it? 

SUBJECTS  FOR  DISCUSSION   OR   ESSAYS 

i .    "  Merely  a  Teacher." 

2.    How  can  parents  be  interested  in  the  school? 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   TEACHER'S   CARE   OF   HIS   HEALTH 

u  Get  health ;  for  sickness  is  a  cannibal  which  eats  up  all  the 
youth  and  life  it  can  lay  hold  of,  and  absorbs  its  own  sons  and 
daughters."  —  Emerson. 

No  employment  is  more  wearing  to  the  constitution 
than  the  business  of  teaching.  So  many  men  falter 
in  this  employment  from  ill  health,  and  so  many  are 
deterred  from  entering  it,  because  they  have  witnessed 
the  early  decay  and  premature  old  age  of  those  who 
have  before  pursued  it ;  so  many  are  still  engaged  in  it 
who  almost  literally  "drag  their  slow  length  along," 
groaning  under  complicated  forms  of  disease  and  loss 
of  spirits,  which  they  know  not  how  to  tolerate  or  cure, 
—  that  it  has  become  a  serious  inquiry  among  the  more 
intelligent  of  the  profession,  "  Cannot  something  be 
known  and  practiced  on  this  subject,  which  shall  re- 
move the  evils  complained  of  ?  "  Is  it  absolutely  neces- 
sary that  teachers  shall  be  dyspeptics  and  invalids? 
Must  devotion  to  a  calling  so  useful,  be  attended  with 
a  penalty  so  dreadful  ? 

A  careful  survey  of  the  facts,  by  more  than  one  phi- 
lanthropist, has  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  loss  of 
health  is  not  a  necessary  attendant  upon  the  teacher  of 
the  young.  It  is  believed,  indeed,  that  the  confinement 
from  the  air  and  sunlight  and  the  engrossing  nature  of 
his  pursuits  have  a  strong  tendency  to  bring  on  an  irrita- 

285 


286  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

bility  of  the  nervous  system,  a  depression  of  spirits,  and 
a  prostration  of  the  digestive  functions ;  but  it  is  also 
believed  that  by  following  strictly  and  systematically 
the  known  laws  of  health,  this  tendency  may  be  suc- 
cessfully resisted,  and  the  teacher's  life  and  usefulness 
very  much  prolonged.  The  importance  of  the  subject 
and  a  desire  to  render  this  volume  as  useful  as  possible, 
have  induced  me  to  ask  leave  to  transfer  to  its  pages, 
with  slight  abbreviation,  the  very  judicious  and  carefully 
written  chapter  on  "Health  —  Exercise  —  Diet,"  con- 
tained in  the  "School  and  the  Schoolmaster,"  from 
the  gifted  pen  of  George  B.  Emerson,  Esq.,  of  Bos- 
ton, —  one  of  the  most  enlightened  educators  of  the 
present  age. 

HEALTH  —  EXERCISE DIET 

11  The  teacher  should  have  perfect  health.  It  may 
seem  almost  superfluous  to  dwell  here  upon  what  is 
admitted  to  be  so  essential  to  all  persons ;  but  it  be- 
comes necessary  from  the  fact  that  nearly  all  those  who 
engage  in  teaching  leave  other  and  more  active  employ- 
ments to  enter  upon  their  new  calling.  By  this  change 
and  by  the  substitution  of  a  mere  sedentary  life  within 
doors  for  a  life  of  activity  abroad,  the  whole  habit  of 
the  body  is  changed,  and  the  health  will  inevitably 
suffer  unless  precautions  be  taken  which  have  never 
before  been  necessary.  To  all  such  persons  —  to  all, 
especially,  who  are  entering  upon  the  work  of  teaching 
with  a  view  of  making  it  their  occupation  through  life, 
a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  health  is  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance, and  to  such  this  chapter  is  addressed.  I  shall 
speak  of  these  laws  briefly  under  the  heads  of  Exercise, 
Air,  Sleep,  Food,  and  Dress, 


TEACHER'S   CARE    OF  HIS  HEALTH  287 

"Exercise. — So  intimate  is  the  connection  between 
the  various  parts  of  our  compound  nature  that  the 
faculties  of  the  mind  cannot  be  naturally,  fully,  and 
effectually  exercised,  without  the  health  of  the  body. 
And  the  first  law  of  health  is  that  which  imposes  the 
necessity  of  exercise. 

"The  teacher  cannot  be  well  without  exercise  and 
usually  a  great  deal  of  it.  No  other  pursuit  requires 
so  much,  —  no  other  is  so  exhausting  to  the  nerves ;  and 
exercise,  air,  cheerfulness,  and  sunshine,  are  necessary 
to  keep  them  in  health.  Most  other  pursuits  give 
exercise  of  body,  sunshine,  and  air,  in  the  very  per- 
formance of  the  duties  that  belong  to  them.  This 
shuts  us  up  from  all. 

"  One  of  the  best  as  one  of  the  most  natural  modes 
of  exercise  is  walking.  To  give  all  the  good  effects  of 
which  it  is  susceptible,  a  walk  must  be  taken  either  in 
pleasant  company,  or  if  alone,  with  pleasant  thoughts ; 
or  still  better,  with  some  agreeable  end  in  view,  such  as 
gathering  plants  or  minerals,  or  observing  other  natural 
objects.  Many  a  broken  constitution  has  been  built  up, 
and  many  a  valuable  life  saved  and  prolonged  by  such 
a  love  of  some  branch  of  natural  history  as  has  led  to 
snatch  every  opportunity  for  a  walk  with  the  interest 
of  a  delightful  study, 

"  <  Where  living  things,  and  things  inanimate 

Do  speak,  at  Heaven's  command,  to  eye  and  ear.' 

The  distinguished  geologist  of  Massachusetts,  President 
Hitchcock,  was  once  when  teacher  of  a  school  reduced 
to  so  low  a  state  by  disease  of  the  nerves,  which  took 
the  ugly  shape  of  dyspepsia,  that  he  seemed  to  be  hurry- 
ing rapidly  toward  the  grave.     Fortunately  he  became 


288  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

interested  in  mineralogy,  and  this  gave  him  a  strong 
motive  to  spend  all  his  leisure  time  in  the  open  air  and 
to  take  long  circuits  in  every  direction.  He  forgot  that 
he  was  pursuing  health,  in  the  deeper  interest  of  science  ; 
and  thus  aided  by  some  other  changes  in  his  habits,  but 
not  in  his  pursuits,  he  gradually  recovered  the  perfect 
health  which  has  enabled  him  to  do  so  much  for  science 
and  for  the  honor  of  his  native  state. 

"Riding  on  horseback  is  one  of  the  best  modes  of 
exercise  possible  for  a  sedentary  person.  It  leads  to 
an  erect  posture,  throws  open  the  chest,  gives  a  fuller 
breathing,  and  exercises  the  muscles  of  the  arms  and 
upper  part  of  the  frame.  *  *  *  In  weakness  of  the 
digestive  organs  its  efficacy  is  remarkable.    *     *     * 

"  A  garden  furnishes  many  excellent  forms  of  exercise, 
and  the  numerous  labors  of  a  farm  would  give  every 
variety  if  the  teacher  could  be  in  a  situation  to  avail 
himself  of  them.  This  is  not  often  the  case.  When 
accessible,  the  rake,  the  pitchfork,  moderately  used,  can- 
not be  too  highly  recommended.  A  garden  is  within 
the  reach  of  most  teachers  in  the  country.  It  has  the 
advantage  of  supplying  exercise  suited  to  every  degree 
of  strength,  and  of  being  filled  with  objects  gratifying 
to  the  eye  and  the  taste.  *  *  *  The  flower  garden 
and  shrubbery  commend  themselves  to  the  female 
teacher.  To  derive  every  advantage  from  them  she 
must  be  willing  to  follow  the  example  often  set  by  the 
ladies  of  England,  and  use  the  hoe,  the  rake,  the  prun- 
ing hook,  and  the  grafting  knife,  with  her  own  hands. 

"Rowing,  when  practicable,  is  a  most  healthful  exer- 
cise. It  gives  play  to  every  muscle  and  bone  in  the 
frame.  *  *  *  When  the  river  is  frozen  skating  may 
take  the  place  of  rowing ;    and  it  is  an  excellent  sub- 


•F  1 


TEACHER'S   CARE   OF  HIS  HEALTH 

stitute.  *  *  *  Driving  a  chaise  or  a  sleigh  is  a 
healthful  exercise,  if  sufficient  precaution  be  used  to 
guard  against  the  current  which  is  always  felt  as  it  is 
produced  by  the  motion  of  the  vehicle,  even  in  still  air. 

"  Sawing  and  splitting  wood  form  a  valuable  exer- 
cise, particularly  important  for  those  who  have  left  an 
active  life  for  the  occupation  of  teaching. 

"  Exercise  should  be  taken  in  the  early  part  of  the 
day.  Warren  Colburn,  the  author  of  the  Arithmetic, 
whose  sagacity  in  common  things  was  as  remarkable 
as  his  genius  for  numbers,  used  to  say  that  half  an 
hour's  walk  before  breakfast  did  him  as  much  good  as 
an  hour's  after.  Be  an  early  riser.  The  air  of  morn- 
ing is  more  bracing  and  invigorating;  the  sights  and 
sounds  and  odors  of  morning  are  more  refreshing. 
A  life's  experience  in  teaching  declares  the  morning 
best.     *     *     * 

"Exercise  must  always  be  taken,  if  possible,  in  the 
open  air.  Air  is  as  essential  as  exercise,  and  often,  in 
warm  weather  particularly,  more  so.  They  belong  to- 
gether. The  blood  flows  not  as  it  should,  it  fails  to 
give  fresh  life  to  the  brain,  if  we  breathe  not  fresh  air 
enough.  The  spirits  cannot  enjoy  the  serene  cheerful- 
ness which  the  teacher  needs  if  he  breathe  not  fresh 
air  enough.  The  brain  cannot  perform  its  functions; 
thought  cannot  be  quick,  vigorous,  and  healthy,  with- 
out ample  supplies  of  air.  Much  of  the  right  moral 
tone  of  habitual  kindliness  and  thankful  reverence  de- 
pends on  the  air  of  heaven. 

"  Exercise  must  be  taken  in  the  light ;  and  if  it  may 
be,  in  the  sunshine.  Who  has  not  felt  the  benignant 
influence  of  sunshine  ?  The  sun's  light  seems  almost 
as  essential  to  our  well-being  as  his  heat  or  the  air  we 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING —  1 9 


29O  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OE   TEACHING 

breathe.  It  has  a  great  effect  on  the  nerves.  A  dis- 
tinguished physician  of  great  experience,  Dr.  J.  C. 
Warren  of  Boston,  tells  me  that  he  almost  uniformly 
finds  diseases  that  affect  the  nerves  exasperated  by  the 
darkness  of  night,  and  mitigated  by  the  coming  on  of 
day.  All  plants  growing  in  the  air  lose  their  strength 
and  color  when  excluded  from  light.  So  in  a  great 
degree  does  man.  They  lose  their  fine  and  delicate 
qualities  and  the  preciousness  of  their  juices.  Man 
loses  the  glow  of  his  spirits  and  the  warmth  and  natural 
play  of  his  finer  feelings.     *     *     * 

"  Next  to  air  and  light,  water  is  the  most  abundant 
element  in  nature.  It  can  hardly  be  requisite  to  enjoin 
upon  the  teacher  the  freest  use  of  it.  The  most  scru- 
pulous cleanliness  is  necessary,  not  only  on  his  own 
account,  but  that  he  may  be  able  always  to  insist  upon 
it,  with  authority,  in  his  pupils.  The  healthy  state  of 
the  nerves  and  of  the  functions  of  digestion  depends 
in  so  great  a  degree  on  the  cleanliness  of  the  skin  that 
its  importance  can  hardly  be  overstated.     *     *     * 

"Sleep.  —  No  more  fatal  mistake  in  regard  to  his 
constitution  can  be  made  by  a  young  person  given  to 
study  than  that  of  supposing  that  Nature  can  be 
cheated  of  the  sleep  necessary  to  restore  its  exhausted 
or  strengthen  its  weakened  powers.  From  six  to  eight 
hours  of  sleep  are  indispensable ;  and  with  young  per- 
sons, oftener  eight,  or  more  than  six.  It  is  essential  to 
the  health  of  the  body,  and  still  more  to  that  of  the 
mind.  It  acts  directly  on  the  nervous  system ;  and 
irritability,  or  what  is  called  nervousness,  is  the  conse- 
quence of  its  loss.  This,  bad  in  any  person,  is  worse 
in  the  teacher  than  in  any  one  else.  It  is  an  unfailing 
source  of  unhappiness  to  himself  and  to  all  his  school. 


TEACHERS   CARE    OE  HIS  HEALTH  29 1 

He  would  be  unwise  to  subject  himself  to  the  conse- 
quences of  the  loss  of  sleep ;  he  has  no  right  to  subject 
others.     *     *     * 

"  Diet.  —  To  no  person  is  an  attention  to  diet  more 
important  than  to  the  teacher.  For  his  own  guidance, 
and  that  he  may  be  able  to  give  proper  instructions  in 
regard  to  this  subject  to  his  pupils,  the  conclusions  of 
experience,  or  what  we  may  consider  the  laws  of  diet, 
should  be  familiar  to  him.  Some  of  these  are  the  fol- 
lowing: 

"  1.  Food  should  be  simple  ;  not  of  too  little  nor  too 
great  variety.  The  structure  of  the  teeth,  resembling 
at  once  those  of  animals  that  naturally  subsist  on  flesh, 
and  of  animals  that  take  only  vegetable  food,  and  the 
character  and  length  of  the  digestive  organs,  holding  a 
medium  between  the  average  of  these  two  classes,  indi- 
cate that  a  variety  of  food,  animal  and  vegetable,  is 
natural  to  man,  and  in  most  cases  probably  necessary. 
The  tendency  in  most  parts  of  this  country,  from  the 
great  abundance  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  is  to  go  to 
excess  in  the  consumption  of  food,  particularly  of  ani- 
mal food.  The  striking  evils  of  this  course  have  led 
many  to  the  opposite  extreme  —  to  renounce  meats  en- 
tirely. Experience  of  the  evils  of  this  course  also  has 
in  most  places  brought  men  back  to  the  safe  medium. 
No  person  needs  to  be  more  careful  in  regard  to  the 
quality  and  nature  of  his  food  than  the  teacher,  as  his 
exclusion  from  air  for  a  great  part  of  the  day  leaves 
him  in  an  unfit  condition  to  digest  unwholesome  food, 
while  the  constant  use  of  his  lungs  renders  his  appetite 
unnaturally  great  or  destroys  it  altogether.  Animal 
food  seems  to  be  necessary,  but  not  in  great  quantities  ; 
not  oftener,   usually,  than   once   a    day.     *     *     *     In 


292  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

winter  the  food  should  be  nourishing,  and  may  be  more 
abundant;  in  summer,  less  nutritious,  less  of  animal 
origin,  and  in  more  moderate  quantity. 

"  2.  Food  should  be  taken  at  sufficiently  distant  in- 
tervals. *  *  *  The  operation  of  digestion  is  not 
completed  ordinarily  in  less  than  four  hours.  Food 
should  not  be  taken  at  shorter  intervals  than  this,  and 
intervals  of  five  or  six  hours  are  better,  as  they  leave 
the  stomach  some  time  to  rest. 

"  3.  It  should  be  taken  in  moderate  quantity.  In 
the  activity  of  common  life  excess  is  less  to  be  dreaded 
than  with  the  sedentary  habits  and  wearying  pursuits 
of  the  teacher.  *  *  *  The  exhaustion  of  teaching 
is  that  of  the  nervous  power,  and  would  seem  to  call  for 
hours  of  quiet  and  freedom  from  care,  with  cheerful 
conversation  and  the  refreshment  of  air  and  gentle 
exercise.  Probably  all  the  kinds  of  food  in  general 
use  are  wholesome  when  partaken  of  moderately. 
Those  who,  from  choice  or  compulsion,  pass  from  an 
active  to  a  sedentary  life,  should  at  the  same  time  re- 
strict themselves  to  one  half  their  accustomed  quantity 
of  food. 

"4.  As  a  general  rule  fat  should  be  avoided.  *  * 
None  but  a  person  who  uses  a  great  deal  of  most  active 
exercise,  or  is  much  exposed  to  cold,  can  long  bear  its 
use  with  impunity.  If  taken,  fat  in  a  solid  form  is  less 
injurious  than  liquid  fat. 

"  5.  Fruit  may  be  eaten  with  the  recollection  of  the 
proverb  of  fruit-producing  countries :  *  It  is  gold  in  the 
morning,  silver  at  noon,  and  lead  at  night.'  Ripe  fruit 
in  its  season  is  wholesome,  and  preferable  for  a  person 
of  sedentary  habits  to  more  nourishing  and  exciting 
food.     But  it  should  be  a  substitute  for  other  food,  not 


TEACHER'S   CARE    OF  HIS  HEALTH  293 

an  addition.  A  bad  practice,  common  in  some  places, 
of  eating  fruit,  especially  the  indigestible  dried  fruits, 
raisins,  and  nuts,  in  the  evening,  should  be  avoided  by 
the  teacher.  He  must  have  quiet  and  uninterrupted 
sleep,  and  early  hours,  to  be  patient,  gentle,  and  cheer- 
ful in  school. 

"  6.  The  drink  of  a  sedentary  person  should  be  chiefly 
water,  and  that  in  small  quantities  and  only  at  meals. 
The  intelligent#Arab  of  the  desert  drinks  not  during 
the  heat  of  the  day.  He  sees  that  watering  a  plant  in 
the  sunshine  makes  it  wither ;  and  he  feels  in  himself 
an  analogous  effect  from  the  use  of  water.  There  are 
few  lessons  in  regard  to  diet  so  important  to  be  incul- 
cated as  this  :  '  Drink  not  between  meals/ 

"  7.  The  last  rule  to  be  observed  is  that  no  unneces- 
sary exertion  of  mind  or  body  should  be  used  immedi- 
ately after  a  meal.  If  a  walk  must  be  taken  it  should 
rather  be  a  leisurely  stroll  than  a  hurried  walk. 

"  Dress. — The  teacher  should  be  no  sloven.  He 
should  dress  well,  not  over  nicely,  not  extravagantly  ; 
neatly,  for  neatness  he  must  teach  by  example  as  well 
as  by  precept;  and  warmly,  for  so  many  hours  of  the 
day  shut  in  a  warm  room  will  make  him  unusually  sen- 
sitive to  cold.  The  golden  rule  of  health  should  never 
be  forgotten  :  '  Keep  the  head  cool,  the  feet  warm,  and 
the  body  free.'  The  dress  of  the  feet  is  particularly 
important.  Coldness  or  dampness  of  the  feet  causes 
headache,  weakness  and  inflammation  of  the  eyes, 
coughs,  consumption,  and  sometimes  fever.  A  head- 
ache is  often  cured  by  sitting  with  the  feet  long  near  a 
fire.  Keeping  the  feet  warm  and  dry  alleviates  the 
common  affections  of  the  eyes,  repels  a  coming  fever, 
prevents    or  quiets    coughs,  and  serves  as  one  of  the 


294  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

surest  safeguards  against  consumption.  Many  of  our 
most  sensible  physicians  trace  the  prevalence  of  con- 
sumption in  northern  states  not  to  our  climate  but  to 
the  almost  universal  custom  of  wearing  insufficient 
clothing,  especially  on  the  feet. 

"  There  is  another  subject  intimately  connected  with 
health,  which  has  been  alluded  to,  but  which  ought, 
from  its  importance,  to  receive  more  than  a  passing 
remark.  It  is  cheerfulness.  This  should  be  one  of  the 
ends  and  measures  of  health.  It  ought  to  be  considered 
the  natural  condition  of  a  healthy  mind ;  he  who  is  not 
cheerful  is  not  in  health.  If  he  has  not  some  manifest 
moral  cause  of  melancholy,  there  must  be  something 
wrong  in  the  body  or  in  the  action  of  the  powers  of 
the  mind. 

"A  common  cause  of  low  spirits  in  a  teachei;  is 
anxiety  in  regard  to  the  welldoing  of  his  pupils.  This 
he  must  feel ;  but  he  must  endeavor,  as  far  as  possible, 
to  banish  it  from  his  hours  of  relaxation.  He  must 
leave  it  behind  him  when  he  turns  from  the  school- 
house  door.  To  prevent  its  haunting  him  he  must  seek 
pleasant  society.  He  must  forget  it  among  the  endear- 
ments of  home,  the  cheerful  faces  and  kind  voices  of 
friends.  This  is  the  best  of  all  resources,  and  happy 
is  the  man  who  has  a  pleasant  home,  in  the  bosom  of 
which  he  may  rest  from  labor  and  from  care.  If  he 
be  among  strangers  he  must  endeavor  to  find  or  make 
friends  to  supply  the  place  of  home.  He  must  seek 
the  company  of  the  parents  and  friends  of  his  pupils, 
not  only  that  he  may  not  be  oppressed  by  the  loneli- 
ness of  his  situation,  but  that  he  may  better  understand 
the  character  of  his  pupils  and  the  influences  to  which 
they  are  subjected.     The  exercise   of  the  social  affec- 


TEACHER'S    CARE    OF  HIS  HEALTH  295 

tions  is  essential  to  the  healthy  condition  of  a  well- 
constituted  mind.  Often  he  will  find  good  friends  and 
pleasant  companions  among  his  pupils.  Difference  of 
years  disappears  before  kindliness  of  feeling,  and  sym- 
pathy may  exist  between  those  most  remote  in  age  and 
pursuit  and  cultivation. 


"  A  delightful  but  somewhat  dangerous  recreation  is 
offered  by  music ;  delightful,  as  always  soothing  to  the 
wearied  mind ;  but  dangerous,  because  liable  to  take  to 
itself  too  much  time.  It  would  be  desirable  if  every 
instructor  could  himself  sing  or  play.  If  he  cannot, 
let  him  listen  to  songs  or  cheerful  music  from  voice 
or  instrument,  or  to  the  notes  of  birds. 

"  i  I'm  sick  of  noise  and  care,  and  now  mine  ear 
Longs  for  some  air  of  peace.' " 


To  the  foregoing  excellent  remarks  I  could  scarcely 
wish  to  add  anything,  save  to  call  attention  to  that 
pernicious  habit  among  both  clergymen  and  teachers 
of  dressing  the  neck  too  warmly  whenever  they  go  into 
the  open  air.  There  seems  to  have  obtained  an  in>- 
pression  that  those  who  have  occasion  to  speak  often 
should  be  particularly  careful  to  guard  their  throats 
from  the  cold.  Hence  many  are  seen  in  a  winter's  day 
with  a  collar  of  fur,  or  a  woolen  "  comforter,"  or  at 
least  a  silk  handkerchief  of  extraordinary  dimensions 
around  their  necks,  and  often  extending  above  their 
mouths  and  nostrils.  If  they  have  occasion  to  step  out 
but  for  a  moment,  they  are  still  subject  to  the  slavery 
of  putting  on  this  unnatural  incumbrance. 


296  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

Now  I  believe  that  this  extra  covering  for  the  neck, 
instead  of  preventing  disease  of  the  throat  and  lungs, 
is  one  of  the  most  fruitful  sources  of  such  disease. 
These  parts  being  thus  thickly  covered  during  exercise 
become  very  warm,  and  an  excessive  local  perspiration 
is  excited ;  and  the  dampness  of  the  throat  is  much  in- 
creased if  the  covering  extends  above  the  mouth  and 
nose,  thus  precluding  the  escape  of  the  exhalations  from 
the  lungs.  When,  therefore,  this  covering  is  removed, 
even  within  doors,  a  very  rapid  evaporation  takes  place, 
and  a  severe  cold  is  the  consequence.  In  this  way  a 
cold  is  renewed  every  day,  and  hoarseness  of  the  throat 
and  irritation  of  the  lungs  are  the  necessary  result. 
Very  soon  the  clergyman  or  teacher  breaks  down  with 
the  bronchitis,  or  the  "lung  complaint,"  and  is  obliged 
for  a  season  at  least  to  suspend  his  labors.  This  diffi- 
culty is  very  much  enhanced  if  the  ordinary  neck  dress 
is  a  stiff  stock,  which,  standing  off  from  the  neck,  allows 
the  ingress  of  the  cold  air  as  soon  as  the  outer  covering 
is  removed. 

Having  suffered  myself  very  severely  from  this  cause, 
and  having  seen  hundreds  of  cases  in  others,  I  was  de- 
sirous to  bear  the  testimony  of  my  experience  against 
the  practice,  —  and  to  suggest  to  all  who  have  occasion 
to  speak  long  and  often  that  the  simplest  covering  for 
the  neck  is  the  best.  A  very  light  cravat  is  all  that  is 
necessary.  If  the  ordinary  cravat  be  too  thick  and  too 
warm,  as  the  large-sized  white  cravats  so  fashionable 
with  the  clergy  usually  are,  during  the  exercise  of 
speaking  an  unnatural  flow  of  blood  to  the  parts  will 
be  induced,  which,  after  the  exercise  ceases,  will  be  fol- 
lowed by  debility  and  prostration.  A  cold  is  then  very 
readily  taken,  and  disease  follows.     I  am  confident  from 


TEACHER'S   CARE    OF  HIS  HEALTH  2ty 

my  own  experience  and  immediate  observation,  that  this 
unnatural  swaddling  of  the  neck  is  one  of  the  most 
fruitful  causes  of  disease  of  the  lungs  and  throat  that 
can  be  mentioned. 

TOPICAL   OUTLINE 

I.    Teaching  endangers  the  Health. 
i.    How? 

2.    The  effects  of  ill  health  upon  a  teacher's  usefulness? 
II.    Exercise. 

i     A  condition  of  health  for  body  and  mind. 

2.  When  and  how? 

3.  Forms  of  exercise. 

a.  Walking. 

Field  Studies. 

b.  Riding  horseback. 

c.  Gardening. 

d.  Boating,  skating,  driving. 

e.  Sawing,  chopping,  splitting  wood. 

4.  Bathing. 

III.  Sleep. 

IV.  Diet. 

1 .  The  importance. 

2.  Rules  of  diet. 
V.   Dress. 

VI .    Cheer fidness . 

1.  Its  relation  to  health  and  usefulness. 

2.  How  promoted. 
VII.    Music. 

VIII.   Dressing  the  Neck  properly. 


SUBJECTS   FOR   DISCUSSION   OR   ESSAYS 

1.  Exercise,  a  Law  of  All  Health. 

2.  Education  at  the  Expense  of  Health. 

3.  Mental  Effects  of  111  Health. 

4.  Conditions  of  Health. 


298  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

READINGS 

Spencer's  Education,  Chap.  IV. 
Compayre's  Lectures  on  Pedagogy,  pp.  28-5 1 . 
Morgan's  Manual  of  Pedagogy,  pp.  291-292. 
White's  School  Management,  pp.  25,  26,  58-78,  83. 
Swett's  Methods  of  Teaching,  pp.  34-38. 
Todd's  Student's  Manual,  Chap.  VIII. 
Hamerton's  Intellectual  Life,  Part  X. 
Bacon's  Essays.     "  Of  Regimen  of  Health." 
Blaikie's  How  to  get  Strong. 
Morgan's  Educational  Mosaics,  p.  165. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE   TEACHER'S    RELATION    TO   HIS    PROFESSION 

"  Every  man  owes  a  debt  to  his  profession."  —  Bacon. 
4i  There  are  heroes  and  martyrs,  prophets  and  apostles  of  learn- 
ing, as  there  are  of  religion."  —  Gilman. 

SECTION    I. STATE    OF    THE    PROFESSION 

It  has  long  been  the  opinion  of  the  best  minds  in 
our  country  as  well  as  in  the  most  enlightened  coun- 
tries of  Europe  that  teaching  should  be  a  profession. 
It  has  been  alleged,  and  with  much  justice,  that  this 
calling,  which  demands  for  its  successful  exercise  the 
best  of  talents,  the  most  persevering  energy,  and  the 
largest  share  of  self-denial,  has  never  attained  an  ap- 
preciation in  the  public  mind  at  all  commensurate  with 
its  importance.  It  has  by  no  means  received  the  emol- 
ument, either  of  money  or  honor,  which  strict  justice 
would  award  in  any  other  department  to  the  talents 
and  exertions  required  for  this.  This  having  been  so 
long  the  condition  of  things,  much  of  the  best  talent 
has  been  attracted  at  once  to  the  other  professions; 
or  if  exercised  awhile  in  this,  the  temptation  of  more 
lucrative  reward,  or  of  more  speedy,  if  not  more  last- 
ing honor,  has  soon  diverted  it  from  teaching,  where 
so  little  of  either  can  be  realized,  to  engage  in  some 
other  department  of  higher  promise.  So  true  is  this, 
that  scarcely  a  man  can  be  found,  having  attained  to 


300  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

any  considerable  eminence  as  a  teacher,  who  has  not 
been  several  times  solicited  —  and  perhaps  strongly 
tempted — to  engage  in  some  more  lucrative  employ- 
ment; and  while  there  have  always  been  some  strong 
men  who  have  preferred  teaching  to  any  other  calling, 

—  men  who  would  do  honor  to  any  profession,  and 
who,  while  exercising  this,  have  found  that  highest  of 
all  rewards,  the  consciousness  of  being  useful  to  others, 

—  still  it  must  be  confessed  that  teachers  have  too  often 
been  of  just  that  class  which  a  knowledge  of  the  cir- 
cumstances might  lead  us  to  predict  would  engage  in 
teaching ;  men  of  capacity  too  limited  for  the  other  pro- 
fessions, of  a  temperament  too  sluggish  to  engage  in 
the  labors  of  active  employment,  of  manners  too  rude 
to  be  tolerated  except  in  the  society  of  children  (!),  and 
sometimes  of  a  morality  so  pernicious  as  to  make  them 
the  unfailing  contaminators  of  the  young  whenever 
permitted  —  not  to  teach  —  but  to  "keep  school/' 
Thus  two  great  evils  have  been  mutually  strength- 
ening each  other.  The  indifference  of  the  employers 
to  the  importance  of  good  teachers,  and  their  parsi- 
mony in  meting  out  the  rewards  of  teaching,  have 
called  into  the  field  large  numbers,  in  the  strictest 
sense,  unworthy  of  all  reward;  while  this  very  un- 
worthiness  of  the  teachers  has  been  made  the  excuse 
for  further  indifference,  and  if  possible  for  greater 
meanness  on  the  part  of  employers.  Such  has  been 
the  state  of  the  case  for  many  years  past,  and  such  is 
to  a  great  extent  the  fact  at  present. 

It  has  been  the  ardent  wish  of  many  philanthropists 
that  this  deplorable  state  of  affairs  should  be  exchanged 
for  a  better.  Hence  they  have  urged  that  teaching 
should   be  constituted  a  profession  ;    that  none  should 


TEACHER'S  RELATION   TO  HIS  PROFESSION        301 

enter  this  profession  but  those  who  are  thoroughly 
qualified  to  discharge  the  high  trust;  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, that  the  people  should  more  liberally  reward 
and  honor  those  who  are  thus  qualified  and  employed. 
This  would  indeed  be  a  very  desirable  change  ;  it  would 
be  the  educational  millennium  of  the  world.  For  such 
a  period  we  all  may  well  devoutly  pray. 

But  how  shall  this  glorious  age  —  not  yet  arrived  — 
be  ushered  in  ?  By  whose  agency,  and  by  what  happy 
instrumentality  must  its  approach  be  hastened?  Here, 
as  in  all  great  enterprises,  there  is  some  difference  of 
opinion.  Some  have  urged  that  the  establishment  of 
normal  schools  and  other  seminaries  for  the  better 
education  of  teachers,  and  the  institution  of  a  more 
vigilant  system  of  supervision,  by  which  our  schools 
should  be  effectually  guarded  against  the  intrusion  of 
the  ignorant  and  inefficient  teacher,  are  all  that  is 
necessary  to  bring  in  this  brighter  day.  Others  have 
zealously  urged  that  such  preparation  and  such  super- 
vision are  entirely  superfluous  and  premature  in  the 
present  state  of  the  public  mind.  They  say  that  the 
public  must  first  become  more  liberal  in  its  appropria- 
tions for  schools ;  it  must  at  once  double  the  amount 
it  has  been  accustomed  to  pay  to  teachers,  and  thus 
secure  without  further  trouble  the  best  talent  to  this 
vocation.  To  this  the  former  class  reply  that  the  pub- 
lic has  seldom  been  known  to  raise  its  price  so  long 
as  its  wants  could  be  supplied  at  the  present  rates. 
They  say  that  the  last  century  has  afforded  ample 
opportunity  for  the  exhibition  of  this  voluntary  gener- 
osity of  the  public,  and  yet  we  still  wait  to  see  this 
anomaly  in  human  prudence,  of  offering  in  advance 
to  pay  double  the  price  for  the  same  thing;  for  until 


302  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

better  teachers  are  raised  up,  it  must  be  an  advance 
upon  the  present  stock.  So  there  is  a  division  among 
them,  "  for  some  cry  one  thing  and  some  another." 

Now  I  believe  in  this  case,  as  in  most  others,  the  truth 
lies  between  the  extremes.  As  the  evil  complained  of 
is  a  mutual  one,  as  has  already  been  shown,  —  that  is, 
an  illiberal  public  has  tolerated  incompetent  teachers, 
and  the  incompetence  of  teachers  has  enhanced  in  turn 
the  parsimony  of  the  public,  —  so  the  remedy  must  be 
a  mutual  one;  the  public  must  be  enlightened  and 
teachers  must  be  improved ;  the  pay  of  teachers  must 
be  raised,  but  there  must  be  also  something  to  warrant 
the  higher  rate.  Nor  is  it  easy  to  determine  which 
shall  begin  first.  We  can  hardly  expect  the  people  to 
pay  more  till  they  find  an  article  worth  more  ;  nor,  on 
the  other  hand,  can  we  expect  the  teachers  to  incur  any 
considerable  outlay  to  improve  themselves  until  better 
encouragement  shall  be  held  out  to  them  by  their  em- 
ployers. The  two  must  generally  proceed  together. 
Just  as  in  the  descending  scale  there  was  a  mutual 
downward  tendency,  so  here,  better  service  will  demand 
better  pay,  and  in  turn  the  liberality  of  employers  will 
stimulate  the  employed  to  still  higher  attainments  in 
knowledge  and  greater  exertions  in  their  labors. 

In  this  condition  of  things  the  question  recurs,  What 
is  the  duty  of  teachers  in  relation  to  their  calling  ?  I 
answer,  they  are  bound  to  do  what  they  can  to  elevate 
it.  Lord  Bacon  said,  "  Every  man  owes  a  debt  to  his 
profession."  Teachers  being  supposed  to  be  more  in- 
telligent than  the  mass  of  the  community  may  justly 
take  the  lead  in  the  work  of  progress.  They  should  as 
a  matter  of  duty  take  hold  of  this  work,  —  a  work  of 
sacrifice  and  self-denial  as  it  will  be  at  least  for  some 


TEACHER'S  RELATION   TO   HIS  PROFESSION        303 

time,  —  and  heartily  do  what  they  can  to  magnify  their 
office  and  make  it  honorable.  In  the  meantime  they 
may  do  what  they  can  to  arouse  the  people  to  a  sense 
of  their  duty.  The  more  enlightened  are  to  some  ex- 
tent with  them  already.  The  press,  the  pulpit,  the  legis- 
lative assemblies,  all  proclaim  that  something  must  be 
done.  All  admit  the  faithful  teacher  has  not  been  duly 
rewarded,  and  some  are  found  who  are  willing  to  do 
something  for  the  improvement  both  of  the  mind  and 
condition  of  the  teacher.  This  is  encouraging;  and 
while  we  rejoice  at  the  few  gleams  of  light  that  betoken 
our  dawning,  let  us  inquire  for  a  little  space  how  we 
can  hasten  the  "  coming  in  of  the  perfect  day." 

SECTION    II.  —  SELF-CULTURE 

The  teacher  should  labor  diligently  to  improve  himself. 
This  is  a  duty  incumbent  on  all  persons,  but  particu- 
larly upon  the  teacher.  The  very  nature  of  his  em- 
ployment demands  that  his  mind  should  be  frequently 
replenished  from  the  storehouses  of  knowledge.  To 
interest  children  in  their  studies,  how  necessary  is  it 
that  the  teacher's  mind  should  be  thoroughly  furnished 
with  the  richest  thoughts  of  the  wise ;  to  inspire  them 
with  a  desire  to  learn,  how  important  that  he  should  be 
a  living  example  of  the  advantage  and  enjoyment  which 
learning  alone  can  bestow ;  to  strew  the  path  of  knowl- 
edge with  flowers,  and  thus  make  it  the  path  of  pleas- 
antness, how  desirable  that  he  should  abound  with  the 
aptest  illustrations  drawn  from  all  that  is  wonderful  and 
curious  in  nature  and  art ;  to  awaken  the  young  mind 
to  a  consciousness  of  its  capacities,  its  wants,  its  respon- 
sibilities, how  thoroughly  should  he  know  all  the  work- 
ings of   the  human  soul,  —  how  wisely   and  carefully 


304  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

should  he  touch  the  springs  of  action,  —  how  judi- 
ciously should  he  call  to  his  aid  the  conscience  and  the 
religious  feelings ! 

Besides,  let  it  be  remembered  that  in  this  as  in  other 
things  the  teacher's  example  is  of  great  importance. 
The  young  will  be  very  likely  to  judge  of  the  impor- 
tance of  their  own  improvement  by  the  estimate  the 
teacher  practically  places  upon  his ;  nor  can  he  with 
any  good  grace  press  his  pupils  to  exertion  while  they 
see  that  he  makes  none  whatever  himself. 

There  is  great  danger  in  the  midst  of  the  confine- 
ment and  fatigue  of  the  schoolroom,  and  the  pressure 
of  anxiety  and  care  out  of  school,  that  the  teacher  will 
yield  to  the  temptations  of  his  position  and  fall  into 
habits  of  indolence  as  to  his  own  improvement.  .  Com- 
pelled, as  he  often  is,  to  labor  at  great  disadvantage, 
by  reason  of  a  small  and  poorly  furnished  schoolroom  ; 
confined  through  the  day  from  the  sunshine  and  the 
fresh  breeze ;  subjected  to  a  constant  pressure  of  duty 
amid  untold  trials  of  his  patience,  arising  from  the  law 
that  impels  children  to  be  active  as  well  as  inconsider- 
ate ;  required  to  concentrate  his  powers  upon  the  double 
duty  of  governing  and  teaching  at  the  same  instant,  and 
all  through  the  session,  —  it  is  not  strange  when  the 
hour  of  release  comes  that  he  should  seek  rest  or  recrea- 
tion at  the  nearest  point,  even  to  the  neglect  of  his  own 
mental  or  moral  culture.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  this 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  so  many  persons  enter  the 
work  of  instruction,  and  continue  in  it  for  a  longer  or 
shorter  period  without  making  the  slightest  progress 
either  in  the  art  of  teaching  or  in  their  own  intellectual 
growth.  Their  first  school  indeed  is  often  their  best. 
This  tendency  or  temptation  incident  to  the  calling  it 


TEACHER'S  RELATION   TO  HIS  PROFESSION        305 

is  the  teacher's  duty  constantly  and  manfully  to  resist. 
He,  can  do  it. 

1.  He  has  the  time  to  do  it.  He  is  usually  required 
to  spend  but  six  hours  in  the  day  in  the  schoolroom. 
Suppose  he  add  two  hours  more  for  the  purpose  of 
looking  over  his  lessons  and  devising  plans  for  improv- 
ing his  school,  —  he  will  still  have  sixteen  hours  for 
sleep,  exercise,  recreation,  and  improvement.  Eight 
hours  are  sufficient  for  sleep,  especially  for  a  sedentary 
man  (some  say  less),  and  four  will  provide  for  meals, 
exercise,  and  recreation.  Four  still  remain  for  improve- 
ment. Any  teacher  who  is  systematic  and  economical 
in  the  use  of  his  time  can  reserve  for  the  purpose  of 
his  own  improvement  four  hours  in  every  twenty-four, 
and  this  without  the  slightest  detriment  to  his  school 
duties  or  to  his  health.  To  be  sure,  he  must  lead  a 
regular  life.  He  must  have  a  plan  and  systematically 
follow  it.  He  must  be  punctual  at  his  school,  at  his 
meals,  at  his  exercise  or  recreation,  at  his  hour  of 
retiring  and  rising,  and  at  his  studies.  Nor  should 
he  ordinarily  devote  more  time  than  I  have  mentioned 
directly  to  his  school.  He  should  labor  with  his  whole 
soul  while  he  does  work,  and  he  will  the  more  heartily 
do  this  if  he  has  had  time  to  think  of  something  else 
during  the  season  of  respite  from  labor.  It  is  a  great 
mistake  that  teachers  make  when  they  think  they  shall 
be  more  successful  by  devoting  all  their  thoughts  to 
their  schools.  Very  soon  the  school  comes  to  occupy 
their  sleeping  as  well  as  waking  hours,  and  troublesome 
dreams  disturb  the  repose  of  night.  Such  men  must 
soon  wear  out. 

But  according  to  the  laws  of  our  nature,  by  a  change 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  20 


306  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

of  occupation,  the  jaded  faculties  find  rest.-  By  taking 
up  some  new  subject  of  inquiry  the  intellect  is  relieved 
from  the  sense  of  fatigue  which  before  oppressed  it, 
the  thoughts  play  freely  again,  the  animation  returns, 
the  eye  kindles,  and  the  mind  expands, 

2.  Such  labor  finds  immediate  reward.  The  con- 
sciousness  of  growth  is  no  small  thing  toward  encour- 
aging the  teacher.  He  feels  that  he  is  no  longer 
violating  his  nature  by  allowing  himself  to  stagnate. 
Then  he  will  find  every  day  that  he  can  apply  the 
newly  acquired  truth  to  the  illustration  of  some  princi- 
ple he  is  attempting  to  teach.  He  has  encouraging  and 
immediate  proof  that  he  is  a  better  teacher,  and  that 
he  has  made  himself  so  by  timely  exertion.  He  is  thus 
again  stimulated  to  rise  above  those  temptations  before 
described,  —  this  immediate  availability  of  his  acquire- 
ments being  vouchsafed  to  the  teacher,  as  it  is  not  to 
most  men,  in  order  to  prompt  him  to  stem  the  current 
which  resists  his  progress. 

And  now,  if  I  have  shown  that  a  teacher  is  bound  to 
improve  himself,  both  from  a  regard  to  his  own  well- 
being,  and  the  influence  of  his  example  upon  others,  — 
and  if  I  have  also  shown  that  he  can  improve  himself, 
I  may  be  indulged  in  making  a  few  suggestions  as  to 
the  ma7iner  of  his  doing  it. 

i.  He  should  have  a  course  of  professional  reading. 
It  will  do  much  for  his  improvement  to  read  the  works 
of  those  who  have  written  on  the  subject  of  education 
and  the  art  of  teaching.  If  possible  he  should  collect 
and  possess  a  small  educational  library.  It  will  be  of 
great  service  to  him  to  be  able  to  read  more  than  once 
such  suggestions  as  are  abundantly  contained  in  the 
"Teacher's    Manual,"    by    Palmer;    the    "  School   and 


TEACHER'S  RELATION    TO  HIS  PROFESSION        307 

Schoolmaster,"  by  Potter  and  Emerson;  the  "Teacher," 
by,  Abbott;  the  " Teacher  Taught,"  by  Davis;  "Lec- 
tures on  School  Keeping,"  by  Hall;  "The  Common 
School  Journal,"  "  Secretary's  Reports,"  and  "  Lec- 
tures," by  Horace  Mann;  the  "Connecticut  Common 
School  Journal,"  and  "  Journal  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Institute,"  by  H.  Barnard;  the  "District  School  Jour- 
nal," of  New  York,  by  Francis  Dwight  and  others ;  the 
"  Lectures  of  the  American  Institute  of  Instruction ; " 
the  "  Schoolmaster's  Friend,"  by  T.  Dwight ;  the  "  Dis- 
trict School,"  by  J.  Orville  Taylor;  the  "Teacher's 
Advocate,"  by  Cooper;  the  writings,  if  they  can  be  ob- 
tained, of  Wyse,  of  Cousin,  of  Lalor,  of  Lord  Brougham 
on  Education,  together  with  such  other  works  as  are 
known  to  contain  sound  and  practical  views.  It  is 
not  to  be  expected  that  every  teacher  will  possess  all 
these,  or  that  he  will  read  them  all  in  a  single  term. 
But  it  is  well  to  hold  converse  with  other  minds,  and  to 
have  it  in  our  power  to  review  their  best  thoughts  when- 
ever our  own  need  refreshing.  I  have  given  a  some- 
what extended  list  of  books  because  the  inquiry  is  now 
so  often  made  by  teachers  as  to  what  they  shall  read. 

2.  By  pursuing  systematically  a  course  of  general  study. 
Many  teachers  who  have  a  desire  to  improve  themselves 
still  fritter  away  their  time  upon  little  miscellaneous 
matters,  without  making  real  progress.  It  is  well  in 
this  to  have  a  plan.  Let  some  one  study,  —  it  may  be 
geology,  or  astronomy,  or  chemistry,  or  botany,  or  the 
pure  mathematics,  —  let  some  one  study  receive  con- 
stant attention  till  no  mean  attainments  have  been  made 
in  it.  By  taking  one  thing  at  a  time  and  diligently  pur- 
suing it,  at  the  end  of  a  term  the  teacher  feels  that  he 
has  something  to  show  for  his  labor,  —  and  he  is  by  the 


308  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

advance  already  made  prepared  to  take  the  next  and 
more  difficult  step.  In  a  course  of  years,  while  a  neigh- 
bor who  began  teaching  at  the  same  time  has  been  stag- 
nating or  even  retrograding  for  the  want  of  a  plan  and 
a  purpose,  a  diligent  man,  by  system  and  perseverance, 
may  make  himself  at  least  equal  to  many  who  have 
enjoyed  better  advantages  in  early  life,  and  at  the  same 
time  have  the  superadded  enjoyment  of  feeling  that  he 
has  been  his  own  teacher. 

3.  Keep  a  journal  or  commonplace  book.  The  habit 
of  composing  daily  is  very  valuable  to  the  teacher. 
In  this  book  he  may  record  whatever  plans  he  has 
devised,  with  their  results  in  practice.  He  may  enter 
remarkable  cases  of  discipline,  —  in  short,  anything 
which  in  the  course  of  his  practice  he  finds,  inter- 
esting. Those  valuable  suggestions  which  he  receives 
from  others,  or  hints  that  he  may  derive  from  books, 
may  be  epitomized  here,  and  thus  be  treasured  up 
for  future  reference.  Sometimes  one's  best  thoughts 
fade  from  his  own  mind  and  he  has  no  power  to 
recall  them.  Such  a  book  would  preserve  them,  and 
would  moreover  show  the  character  of  one's  thoughts  at 
any  particular  period,  and  the  progress  of  thought,  from 
one  period  to  another,  better  than  any  other  means.1 

To  these  means  of  self-culture  I  would  add  the  prac- 
tice of  carefully  reading  and  writing  on  chosen  subjects 
more  fully  described  in  the  chapter  on  Habits  of  the 
Teacher. 

By  all  these  means  and  such  others  as  may  come 
within  his  reach,  if  a  teacher  succeeds  in  his  attempts 
at  progress,  he  does  much  for  his  profession.     The  very 

1  For  further  remarks  on  the  commonplace  book,  see  Chap.  VII.  p.  143, 
note. 


TEACHER'S  RELATION   TO  HIS  PROFESSION      309 

fact  that  he  has  given  practical  demonstration  that  a 
man  may  teach  and  still  improve ;  that  the  temptations 
of  his  profession  may  be  resisted  and  overcome  ;  that 
the  life  of  the  pedagogue  which  has  required  him  to 
keep  the  company  of  small  minds  and  to  be  occupied 
with  minute  objects,  has  never  prevented  his  holding 
communion  with  the  greatest  men  our  earth  has  known, 
nor  circumscribed  in  the  least  the  sphere  of  his  grasp- 
ing research,  —  I  say  the  very  fact  that  he  has  thus 
shown  what  a  man  may  do  under  such  circumstances, 
may  do  much  to  encourage  others  to  like  effort. 

But  there  are  other  and  direct  duties  which  he  owes 
to  his  profession,  which  I  proceed  to  consider  under 
the  head  of 

SECTION    III.  —  MUTUAL    AID 

Every  teacher  should  be  willing  to  impart  as  well  as 
to  receive  good.  No  one,  whatever  may  be  his  per- 
sonal exertions,  can  monopolize  all  the  wisdom  of  the 
world.  The  French  have  a  proverb  that  "  Everybody 
is  wiser  than  anybody."  Acting  on  this  principle  the 
teacher  should  be  willing  to  bring  his  attainments  into 
the  common  stock,  and  to  diffuse  around  him  as  far  as 
he  is  able  the  light  he  possesses.  I  have  no  language 
with  which  to  express  my  abhorrence  of  that  selfish- 
ness which  prompts  a  man,  after  attaining  to  some 
eminence  as  a  teacher  by  the  free  use  of  all  the  means 
within  his  reach,  self-complacently  to  stand  aloof  from 
his  fellow-teachers,  as  if  he  would  say :  "  Brethren, 
help  yourselves  —  I  have  no  need  of  you,  and  you  have 
no  claim  upon  me.  I  have  toiled  hard  for  my  emi- 
nence, and  the  secret  is  with  me.  I  will  enjoy  it  alone. 
When  you  have  toiled  as  long,   you  may  be  as  wise, 


3IO  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

Brethren,  help  yourselves."  Such  a  spirit  would  per- 
haps be  tolerated  by  the  world  in  an  avaricious  man 
who  had  labored  to  treasure  up  the  shining  dust  of  earth. 
But  no  man  may  innocently  monopolize  knowledge. 
The  light  of  the  sun  is  shed  in  golden  refulgence  upon 
every  man,  and  no  one  if  he  would  may  separate  a 
portion  for  his  own  exclusive  use  by  closing  his  shut- 
ters about  him,  —  for  that  moment  his  light  becomes 
darkness.  It  is  thus  with  the  light  of  knowledge. 
Like  the  air  we  breathe,  or  like  the  rain  from  heaven, 
it  should  be  free  to  all.  The  man  who  would  lock  up 
the  treasures  of  learning  from  the  gaze  of  the  whole 
world,  whether  in  the  tomes  of  some  dusty  library, 
as  of  old  it  was  done,  or  in  the  recesses  of  his  narrower 
soul,  is  unworthy  of  the  name  of  man  ;  he  certainly  has 
not  the  spirit  of  the  teacher. 

An  exclusive  spirit  may  be  borne  where  meaner 
things,  as  houses,  and  lands,  and  gold,  are  at  stake : 
but  in  education  and  religion  —  light  and  love,  —  where 
giving  doth  not  impoverish  nor  withholding  make  rich, 
there  is  not  even  the  shadow  of  an  excuse  for  it.  The 
man  who  is  exclusive  in  these  things,  would  be  so,  I 
fear,  in  heaven. 

How  can  teachers  encourage  each  other? 

i.  By  mutual  visitation.  Very  much  may  be  done  by 
social  intercourse.  Two  teachers  can  scarcely  converse 
together  an  hour  without  benefiting  each  other.  The 
advantages  of  intercourse  with  friends,  as  delineated 
by  Dr.  Young,  may  not  be  denied  to  teachers : 

"Hast  thou  no  friend  to  set  thy  mind  abroach? 
Good  sense  will  stagnate.     Thoughts  shut  up  want  air, 
And  spoil  like  bales  unopened  to  the  sun. 
Had  thought  been  all,  sweet  speech  had  been  denied. 


TEACHER'S  RELATION   TO   HIS  PROFESSION        311 


Thought,  too,  delivered,  is  the  more  possessed ; 
Teaching,  we  learn ;  and  giving,  we  retain 
The  births  of  intellect,  when  duml>,  forgot. 
Speech  ventilates  our  intellectual  fire  ; 
Speech  burnishes  our  mental  magazine, 
Brightens  for  ornament,  and  whets  for  use." 

But  not  only  should  teachers  visit  one  another, — it  is 
profitable  also  for  them  to  visit  each  other's  schools.  I 
have  never  spent  an  hour  in  the  school  of  another  with- 
out gaining  some  instruction.  Sometimes  a  new  way 
of  illustrating  a  difficult  point,  sometimes  an  exhibition 
of  tact  in  managing  a  difficult  case  in  discipline,  some- 
times an  improved  method  of  keeping  up  the  interest 
in  a  class,  would  suggest  the  means  of  making  my  own 
labors  the  more  successful.  And  even  should  one's 
neighbor  be  a  bad  teacher,  one  mf~T  sometimes  learn  as 
much  from  witnessing  glaring  deiects  as  great  excel- 
lencies. Some  of  the  most  profitable  lessons  I  have 
ever  received  have  been  drawn  from  the  deficiencies  of 
a  fellow-teacher.  We  seldom  "  see  ourselves  as  others 
see  us  " ;  and  we  are  often  insensible  of  our  own  faults 
till  we  have  seen  them  strikingly  exhibited  by  another ; 
and  then  by  a  comparison  we  correct  our  own. 

Besides,  by  a  visitation  of  a  friend's  school  we  may 
not  only  receive  good,  but  we  may  impart  it.  If  there 
is  mutual  confidence,  a  few  words  may  aid  him  to  cor- 
rect his  faults,  if  he  has  any, — faults  which  but  for 
such  suggestion  might  grow  into  confirmed  habits  to 
his  permanent  injury. 

So  important  is  this  mutual  visitation  among  teachers 
as  a  means  of  improvement,  that  I  doubt  not  employers 
would  find  it  for  their  interest  to  encourage  it  by  allow- 


312  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

ing  the  teachers  to  set  apart  an  occasional  half  day  for 
this  purpose. 

It  would,  moreover,  be  very  useful  for  the  teachers 
of  a  town  to  hold  stated  meetings  as  often  as  once  a 
month  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  improvement.  It 
would  cultivate  a  fellow-feeling  among  them,  and  it 
would  afford  them  an  opportunity  to  exchange  thoughts 
on  most  of  the  difficulties  which  they  meet  in  their 
schools,  and  the  best  methods  of  surmounting  them. 
At  these  meetings  a  mutual  exchange  of  books  on  the 
subject  of  teaching  would  extend  the  facilities  of  each 
for  improving  his  own  mind  and  his  methods  of  instruc- 
tion and  government. 

2.  By  the  use  of  the  pen.  Every  teacher  should  be 
a  ready  writer.  Nearly  every  teacher  could  gain- access 
to  the  columns  of  some  paper,  through  which  he  could 
impart  the  results  of  his  experience  or  of  his  reflection. 
Such  a  course  would  benefit  him  specially,  and  at  the 
same  time  it  would  awaken  other  minds  to  thought  and 
action.  In  this  way  the  attention,  not  only  of  teachers 
but  of  parents,  would  be  called  to  the  great  work  of 
education.  One  mind  in  this  way  might  move  a  thou- 
sand. If  a  teacher  does  not  feel  qualified  to  instruct, 
let  him  inquire,  and  thus  call  out  the  wisdom  of  others. 
This  could  be  done  in  nearly  every  village.  The  press 
is  almost  always  ready  to  promote  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion. By  the  use  of  it  teachers  may  profitably  discuss 
all  the  great  questions  pertaining  to  their  duty,  and  at 
the  same  time  enlighten  the  community  in  which  they 
live.  This  is  an  instrumentality  as  yet  too  little  em- 
ployed. 

3.  By  Teachers'  Associations  or  Institutes.  These  are 
peculiarly  adapted  to  the  diffusion  of  the  best  plans  of 


TEACHER'S  RELATION   TO   HIS  PROFESSION        3 13 

instruction.  Rightly  conducted  they  can  never  fail  of 
being  useful.  Every  man  who  lectures  or  teaches  is 
profited  by  the  preparation.  If  he  is  a  man  of  wisdom 
and  experience,  he  will  benefit  his  hearers.  If  other- 
wise, the  discussion  which  should  ever  follow  a  lecture 
will  expose  its  fallacies.  It  has  often  happened  in  such 
associations,  that  an  honest  and  experienced  man  has 
in  a  half  hour  given  to  the  younger  portion  of  the 
members  lessons  of  wisdom  which  it  would  take  them 
years  to  learn  by  their  own  observation.  Errors  in 
principle  and  practice  have  been  exposed  into  which 
many  a  young  teacher  was  unconsciously  falling,  and 
hints  have  been  given  to  the  quicker  minds  by  which 
their  own  modes  of  teaching  and  governing  have  been 
speedily  improved. 

As  far  as  possible  such  meetings  should  be  made 
strictly  practical.  Older  teachers,  who  usually  have 
the  most  to  do  with  the  management  of  them,  should 
bear  in  mind  that  they  are  mainly  designed  to  diffuse 
practical  ideas  of  teaching,  particularly  among  the 
younger  members.  Too  often  these  meetings  are  made 
the  arena  of  debate  upon  questions  of  very  little  prac- 
tical importance  to  the  teacher.  I  have  seen  a  body  of 
men  spend  an  entire  session  of  a  half  day  in  discussing 
a  series  of  overwrought  resolutions  upon  some  topic 
scarcely  at  all  connected  with  any  duty  of  the  teacher, 
frequently  leaving  the  main  question  to  wrangle  about 
some  point  of  order,  or  of  "parliamentary  usage "; 
and  after  the  resolutions  were  passed  or  rejected,  as  the 
case  might  be  —  (and  it  was  of  very  little  consequence 
whether  "  carried  "  or  "  lost  "),  — the  ladies  and  younger 
teachers  who  had  borne  no  part  in  the  talk,  would  find 
it  difficult  to  tell  "  wherefore  they  had  come  together/' 


314  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

Nothing  had  been  said  or  done  by  which  they  could  be 
aided  in  their  schools.  Lecturers,  too,  have  frequently 
mistaken  their  aim.  Ambitious  to  shine  out  as  liter- 
ary men,  they  have  given  orations  instead  of  practical 
lessons.  In  these  meetings,  it  seems  to  me  nothing 
ostentatious,  nothing  far-fetched  is  what  we  need;  but 
rather  the  modes  and  experience  of  practical  men.  We 
need  to  come  down  to  the  schoolroom,  to  the  everyday 
business  of  the  teacher,  and  thus  prepare  him  to  do  his 
work  more  successfully  on  his  return  to  his  duties. 

Another  and  no  inconsiderable  advantage  of  such 
associations  is  that  the  teacher  gains  encouragement 
and  strength  by  being  thus  brought  in  contact  with 
others  engaged  in  the  same  pursuit.  Toiling  on  alone, 
in  his  isolated  district,  surrounded  by  obstacles  and  dis- 
couragements, weighed  down  by  care  and  finding  none 
to  sympathize  with  him,  he  is  almost  ready  to  faint  in 
his  course  and  perhaps  to  abandon  his  calling.  At 
this  crisis  he  reads  the  notice  for  the  teachers*  meeting 
and  he  resolves  to  go  up  once  more  to  the  gathering  of 
his  friends.  From  the  various  parts  of  the  county, 
from  the  populous  and  crowded  city,  and  from  the  by- 
ways of  the  country  towns,  a  goodly  number  collect 
together  and  greet  each  other.  Smile  answers  to  smile, 
the  blood  courses  more  freely  through  the  veins,  the 
spirits,  long  depressed  perhaps,  partake  of  the  general 
glow,  and  each  feels  that  he  is  not  toiling  alone.  He 
feels  that  a  noble  brotherhood  of  kindred  spirits  are 
laboring  in  the  same  field,  under  trials  and  discourage- 
ments similar  to  those  which  have  oppressed  him.  He 
derives  new  strength  from  the  sympathy  of  friends. 

A  professional  feeling  is  engendered  which  will  ac- 
company him  to  his  schoolroom;    and  when  he  goes 


TEACHER'S  RELATION   TO   HIS  PROFESSION        315 

home  it  is  with  renewed  vigor  and  fresh  aspirings  to  be 
a  better  man  and  a  better  teacher.  He  labors  with 
more  confidence  in  himself ;  and,  enlightened  by  what 
he  has  seen  and  heard,  he  is  far  more  successful  than 
before.  His  pupils,  too,  respond  to  the  new  life  they 
see  enkindling  in  him,  and  go  to  their  work  more  cheer- 
fully. One  difficulty  after  another  vanishes,  and  he 
begins  to  think  teaching,  after  all,  is  not  the  worst  em- 
ployment in  the  world,  but  that  it  has  some  flowers  as 
well  as  thorns;  and  he  concludes  to  remain  in  the  pro- 
fession. This  has  been  the  history  of  at  least  one  man. 
Long  may  many  others  have  occasion  to  exercise  grati- 
tude like  his  for  the  enjoyment  of  similar  privileges.1 


I  ought  not  to  leave  this  subject  without  a  word  or 
two  of  caution : 

1.  Be  honest.  In  all  your  intercourse  with  your 
fellow-teachers,  be  careful  to  use  the  words  of  "  truth 
and  soberness."  In  stating  your  experience  never  allow 
your  fancy  to  embellish  your  facts.  Of  this  there  is 
great  danger.  The  young  are  sometimes  tempted  to  tell 
a  good  story ;  but  a  deviation  from  the  truth  —  always 
perilous  and  always  wrong  —  may  be  peculiarly  disas- 

lThe  Essex  County  Teachers'  Association,  in  Massachusetts,  was 
first  organized  in  1829,  and  for  seventeen  years  its  meetings,  of  two  days 
each,  have  been  held  semiannually,  and  usually  very  fully  attended.  This 
association  has  wrought  an  untold  amount  of  usefulness  by  its  improvement 
and  encouragement  of  the  teachers  of  that  county,  —  and  at  this  time  it 
continues  to  diffuse  its  wonted  blessings.  A  more  intelligent  and  devoted 
body  of  teachers  cannot  be  found  in  the  United  States  than  those  who  now 
compose  that  association.  Long  may  it  continue  to  irradiate  its  glorious 
light ;  and  long  may  its  devoted  members  enjoy  the  well-merited  confi- 
dence of  the  community  in  which  they  labor. 


3l6  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

trous  here.  Experience  overstated  may  egregiously 
mislead  the  unwary  inquirer  after  truth.  Never  over- 
color  the  picture ;  it  is  better  to  err  on  the  other  side. 

So,  likewise,  in  exhibiting  your  school  to  fellow- 
teachers,  be  strictly  honest.  They  come  to  learn  from 
your  everyday  practice,  and  not  from  a  counterfeit; 
and  whenever  you  dress  your  school  in  a  showy  garb 
to  win  the  applause  of  a  fellow-teacher  you  do  him  a 
great  injustice.  You  may  not  please  your  friend  so 
much  by  your  ordinary  mode  as  by  something  assumed 
for  the  occasion;  but  you  may  profit  him  far  more; 
and  in  the  end  you  lose  nothing  by  pursuing  the  line 
of  duty. 

I  well  remember  that  a  somewhat  distinguished 
teacher  once  visited  my  own  school,  who  on*  going 
away  expressed  himself  somewhat  disappointed  because 
he  did  not  see  anything  "extraordinary"  as  he  said,  in 
my  mode  of  procedure.  The  truth  was,  nothing  extraor- 
dinary was  attempted.  He  saw  what  I  wished  to  show 
him,  an  ordinary  day's  work ;  for  I  had  before  that 
time  imbibed  the  opinion  that  a  man's  reputation  will 
be  more  firmly  established  by  sustaining  every  day  a 
fair  mediocrity,  than  it  ever  can  be  by  an  attempt  to 
outdo  himself  on  a  few  special  occasions.  As  the  value 
of  biographical  writing  is  often  very  much  diminished 
because  the  writer  has  endeavored  to  paint  his  character 
too  perfect  to  be  human, — so  these  visitations  will  lose 
their  utility,  whenever,  by  substituting  hollow  preten- 
sion for  sober  reality,  the  teacher  endeavors  to  exhibit 
such  a  school  as  he  does  not  daily  keep. 

2.  Avoid  servile  imitation  of  any  model.  It  is  often 
remarked  that  every  man's  plan  is  the  best  for  him; 
and  that  many  besides  David  can  never  fight  in  Saul's 


TEACHER'S  RELATION   TO  HIS  PROFESSION        317 

armor.  This  is  generally  true.  All  experience  then 
should  be  considered  in  connection  with  the  circum- 
stances under  which  it  was  tried,  never  forgetting  the 
character  and  genius  of  the  person  who  relates  it.  What 
might  succeed  in  his  hand  may  fail  in  yours;  particu- 
larly as  you  will  lack  the  interest  of  an  original  inventor. 

The  true  secret  lies  in  listening  to  the  views  of  all, 
and  then  in  making  a  judicious  combination  to  meet 
your  own  character  and  your  own  circumstances.  It  is 
often  better  to  adjust  and  adapt  the  plan  of  another, 
than  to  adopt  it. 

Servile  imitation  precludes  thought  in  the  teacher 
and  reduces  him  to  a  mere  machine.  The  most  suc- 
cessful teachers  I  have  ever  known  were  those  who 
would  listen  attentively  to  the  plans  and  experience  of 
others,  and  then  strike  out  a  course  for  themselves, 
attempting  that,  and  that  only,  which  they  were  confi- 
dent they  could  successfully  execute. 

3.  Avoid  undue  self-sufficiency.  Men  usually  cease 
to  learn  when  they  think  they  are  wise  enough.  The 
teacher  is  in  danger  of  falling  into  this  error.  Moving 
for  the  most  part  among  children,  where  his  decisions 
are  seldom  questioned,  he  is  very  apt  to  attach  undue 
importance  to  his  own  opinions.  Such  a  man  meets 
his  fellows  with  much  self-complacency,  and  is  but 
poorly  prepared  to  be  profited  by  the  views  of  others. 
But  the  teacher  should  never  cease  to  be  teachable. 
There  are  very  few  men  too  old  or  too  wise  to  learn 
something;  and  they  are  the  wisest,  if  not  the  oldest, 
who  are  willing  to  welcome  a  real  improvement,  even 
though  it  should  come  from  comparative  "babes  and 
sucklings,"  out  of  whose  mouths  God  has  sometimes  per- 
fected praise. 


3  l8  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

TOPICAL  QUIZ 

I .   State  of  the  Profession . 

i.    Account  for  the  fact  that  the  teaching  profession  is  held 
in  such  slight  esteem  by  the  general  public. 

2.  Account  for  the  fact  that  so  little  of  the  best  talent  remains 

in  the  profession  of  teaching. 

3.  Account  for  the  existence  of  so  many  incompetent  and 

unworthy  teachers. 

4.  How  can  the  indifference  and  parsimony  of  the  public  be 

remedied  ? 

5.  State  the  ways  in  which   the   teacher  can   magnify  his 

office  in  public  esteem. 
II.   Self -culture. 

6.  Why  should  the  teacher  labor  diligently  to  improve  himself? 

7.  What  obstacles  to  self-culture  confront  the  teacher?    The 

usual  result  ? 

8.  What  are  the  opportunities  for  self-culture? 

9.  What  are  the  rewards  of  self-culture? 

10.  In  what  ways  can  a  teacher  improve  himself? 

1 1 .  What  are  the  special  values  of  professional  reading? 

12.  Suggest  a  systematic  plan  for  general  study. 

13.  What  are  the  uses  of  a  commonplace  book? 

14.  What  improvement  lies  in  reading  and  writing  upon  chosen 

subjects  ? 
III.   Mutual  Aid. 

15.  State  the  obligations  and  uses  of  mutual  aid. 

16.  State  ways  in  which  teachers  can  encourage  one  another. 

17.  State  the  values  of  school  visitations. 

18.  How  can  the  teacher  use  his  pen  to  advantage  in  the 

home  paper? 

19.  State  the  uses  of  Associations  and  Institutes. 

20.  What  faults  are  to  be  avoided  in  such  bodies  ? 

21.  State  and  justify  the  cautions  urged  by  Page  regarding 

professional  intercourse. 

readings 

(Books  for  Inspiration  and  Self-culture) 

Todd's  Student's  Manual. 
Blackie's  Self-culture. 


TEACHER'S  RELATION    TO  HIS  PROFESSION        319 

Smiles's  Self-help. 
Fothergill's  The  Will  Power. 
Lubbock's  Pleasures  of  Life. 
Baldwin's  The  Book  Lover. 
Hamerton's  Intellectual  Life. 
Brown's  What  is  Worth  While. 
Farrar's  Life  of  Christ. 
Stalker's  Life  of  St.  Paul. 
De  Guimps's  Life  of  Pestalozzi. 
Hinsdale's  Life  of  Horace  Mann. 

(Pedagogical  Books  worth  accumulating  gradually 
and  mastering  completely) 

Arnold's  Way  marks  for  Teachers. 

Swett's  Methods  of  Teaching. 

Roark's  Psychology  in  Education. 

Fitch's  Lectures  on  Teaching. 

Halleck's  Psychology  and  Psychic  Culture. 

Davis's  Elements  of  Psychology. 

Morgan's  Studies  in  Pedagogy. 

Compayre's  Lectures  on  Teaching. 

Baldwin's  Art  of  School  Management. 

White's  School  Management. 

Compayre's  History  of  Pedagogy. 

Painter's  History  of  Education. 

Quick's  Educational  Reformers. 

Plato's  Republic. 

Quintilian's  Institutes. 

Putnam's  Manual  of  Pedagogics. 

Spencer's  Education. 

Bain's  Education  as  a  Science. 

Rosenkranz's  Philosophy  of  Education. 

Payne's  Contributions  to  the  Science  of  Education. 

Rousseau's  Emile. 

Bowen's  Froebel. 

Herford's  Student's  Froebel. 

Froebel's  Education  of  Man. 

De  Garmo's  Herbart  and  the  Herbartians. 


CHAPTER   XV 

MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS 

u  Power  ceases  in  the  instant  of  repose  ;  it  resides  in  the  moment 
of  transition  from  a  past  to  a  new  state,  in  the  shooting  of  the 
gulf,  in  the  darting  of  an  aim."  —  Emerson. 

On  looking  over  the  notes  which  I  have  at  various 
times  made  of  my  own  experience  and  observation,  dur- 
ing twenty  years  of  practical  teaching,  I  find  there  are 
several  thoughts  which  may  be  of  some  service  to  the 
young  teacher,  and  which  have  not  been  introduced 
under  any  of  the  general  topics  of  this  volume.  I  have 
therefore  thought  best  to  introduce  a  special  chapter, 
with  the  above  title,  where  I  might  lawfully  bring  to- 
gether, without  much  regard  to  method,  such  varied 
hints  as  may  convey  to  some  reader  a  useful  lesson. 
Some  of  these  hints  will  refer  to  faults  which  should  be 
carefully  avoided,  while  others  will  point  out  some 
duties  to  be  performed. 

SECTION   I. THINGS    TO    BE    AVOIDED 

I.  Guard  against  prejudice  on  entering  a  school. 
It  is  not  always  safe  to  rely  upon  first  impressions  as 
to  character.  At  the  opening  of  a  school,  perhaps  fifty 
individuals  for  the  first  time  are  brought  before  the 
teacher.  Some  of  them  are  from  humble  life,  and  per- 
haps bear  upon  them  the  marks  of  parental  neglect. 
Their  persons  and  their  clothing  may  present  nothing 

320 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  32 1 

to  attract  and  gratify  the  eye  of  a  stranger.  Little  ac- 
customed to  society  they  exhibit  an  awkward  bashful- 
ness,  or  an  impertinent  forwardness  in  their  manner. 
Contrasted  with  these,  others  appear  who  have  been 
the  children  of  indulgence,  and  who  have  seen  much 
more  of  the  world.  A  more  expensive  garb  attracts  the 
eye ;  a  more  easy  and  familiar  address,  conforming  to 
the  artificial  modes  of  society,  is  very  likely  to  win  the 
heart.  The  teacher  is  very  prone  to  find  his  feelings 
committed  in  favor  of  the  latter  class  and  against  the 
former.  But  this  is  all  wrong.  A  judgment  thus 
hastily  formed  is  extremely  hazardous,  —  as  a  few  days' 
acquaintance  will  usually  show.  The  child  of  blunt  or 
shy  demeanor  often  has  the  truest  heart,  —  a  heart  whose 
sentiments  go  out  by  the  shortest  course,  —  a  heart  that 
has  never  learned  the  artificial  forms  of  the  world,  be- 
cause it  has  never  felt  the  need  of  them.  And  how 
unjust  to  the  child  is  a  prejudice  founded  on  the  circum- 
stance of  dress !  Must  the  inability  or  neglect  of  his 
parents  be  doubly  visited  on  him  ?  Is  it  not  enough  that 
he  daily  feels  the  inward  mortification  of  a  contrast  with 
his  more  favored  schoolfellows  ?  Must  he  be  painfully 
reminded  of  it  by  discovering  that  his  teacher  repels 
him  on  that  account,  and  bestows  his  kindliest  smiles 
upon  those  that  are  "  the  brightest  and  best  clad  "  ? 

And  yet  such  unjust  prejudice  is  common;  wrong 
and  unfeeling  as  it  is,  it  is  too  common.  A  fine  dress, 
and  a  clean  face,  and  a  graceful  manner,  I  know  are 
attractive ;  but  the  teacher  has  to  do  with  the  mind 
and  the  heart;  —  and  he  should  never  be  deterred  by 
anything  exterior  from  making  a  diligent  and  patient 
search  for  good  qualities  which  have  their  home  behind 
the  surface,  —  and  he  should  ever  possess  a  smile  as 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  21 


322  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

cordial  and  a  tone  as  parental  for  the  neglected  child  of 
poverty  and  ignorance,  as  for  the  more  favored  son  of 
wealth  and  ease. 

2.  Do  not  allow  your  pupils  to  direct  their  own 
studies.  Whatever  their  age  may  be,  they  are  seldom 
capable  of  doing  this.  It  is  the  aim  of  the  young  to 
get  over  a  long  course  of  study.  They  are  usually 
pleased  to  belong  to  higher  classes  before  they  have 
mastered  the  branches  taught  in  the  lower.  If  children 
are  suffered  to  direct  their  own  studies,  they  usually 
make  themselves  very  poor  scholars.  This  is  the  bane 
of  many  of  our  select  schools  and  academies,  where  the 
teacher  yields  this  right  in  order  to  secure  pupils  and  a 
salary.  But  no  one,  not  even  the  parent,  is  as  com- 
petent as  the  teacher  ought  to  be  to  direct  in  this  mat- 
ter. He  has  the  best  opportunity  daily  to  fathom  the 
pupil's  attainments  and  to  understand  his  deficiencies. 
He  may  claim  the  right  to  direct.  In  case  the  pupil 
withstands  his  decision,  the  teacher  should  appeal  to 
the  parent,  and  endeavor  there  to  sustain  his  point,  a 
thing  generally  within  his  power  if  indeed  he  is  right. 
If  the  parent,  too,  is  obstinate,  and  firmly  insists  upon 
the  wrong  course,  the  teacher  may  perhaps  submit, 
though  he  cannot  submit  without  the  consciousness  that 
his  province  has  been  invaded. 

It  is  too  frequently  the  case  that  the  teacher  at  the 
first  yields  all  this  ground  voluntarily,  by  asking  the 
children  what  they  wish  to  study.  When  he  has  once 
made  them  a  party  in  this  question  he  need  not  wonder 
if  they  claim  to  be  heard.  This  he  should  not  do.  He ' 
should  first  be  sure  that  he  is  qualified  to  direct  aright, 
and  then,  as  a  matter  of  course,  proceed  to  do  it,  just  as 
the  physician  would  prescribe  for  the  physical  malady 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  323 

of  such  a  child.  The  latter  is  not  more  the  rightful 
duty  of  the  physician,  than  the  former  is  of  the  school- 
teacher. Neither  has  the  power  to  enforce  his  pre- 
scription against  the  parents'  consent,  —  but  that  con- 
sent may  be  taken  for  granted  by  both  till  informed 
that  it  is  withheld. 

I  may  here  remark  that  in  all  my  intercourse  with  the 
young,  whether  in  the  common  or  the  higher  school,  I 
have  found  no  greater  evil  than  that  of  proceeding  to 
the  more  difficult  branches  before  the  elementary  studies 
have  been  mastered.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  find 
those  who  have  "  attended  "  to  the  higher  mathematics 
—  algebra,  geometry,  and  the  like  —  whose  reading  and 
writing  are  wretched  in  the  extreme,  and  whose  spelling 
is  absolutely  intolerable!  They  have  been  pursuing 
quadratics,  but  are  unable  to  explain  why  they  "  carry 
one  for  every  ten";  they  have  wandered  among  the  stars 
in  search  of  other  worlds,  by  the  science  of  astronomy, 
without  knowing  the  most  simple  points  in  the  geog- 
raphy of  our  own ;  they  have  studied  logarithms  and 
infinite  series,  but  cannot  be  safely  trusted  to  add  a  col- 
umn of  figures,  or  to  compute  the  simple  interest  upon 
a  common  note  !  In  short,  they  have  studied  every- 
thing, except  what  is  most  useful  to  be  known  in  prac- 
tical life,  and  have  really  learned — nothing! 

Now  if  this  evil  —  grievous  and  extensive  as  it  is  at 
present  —  is  destined  ever  to  be  abated,  it  is  to  be  ac- 
complished by  the  instrumentality  of  the  teacher,  acting, 
in  his  appropriate  sphere,  in  the  capacity  of  a  director 
as  to  the  course  of  study  for  the  young.  He  must  not 
be  a  man  who  can  merely  teach,  but  one  who  under- 
stands the  high  import  of  a  true  education,  and  knows 
how  to  prescribe  the  order  of   its  progress;    one,  in 


324  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

short,  who  will  never  attempt  to  erect  a  showy  super- 
structure upon  an  insufficient  foundation. 

3.  Do  not  attempt  to  teach  too  many  things.  There 
is  a  tendency  at  present  to  introduce  too  many  things 
into  all  our  schools.  Nothing  is  more  common  than  to 
hear  our  public  lecturers  declare,  as  they  become  a 
little  enthusiastic  in  any  given  department,  that  "  this 
branch  should  at  once  be  made  a  study  in  our  common 
schools/1  This  is  heard  of  almost  the  whole  round  of 
the  natural  sciences.  But  it  seems  to  me  to  be  dictated 
by  overwrought  enthusiasm.  Everything  cannot  be  well 
taught  in  our  schools ;  nor  should  too  much  be  attempted. 
It  is  the  province  of  our  schools  —  particularly  our  com- 
mon schools  —  to  afford  thorough  instruction  in  a  few 
things,  and  to  awaken  a  desire  for  more  extended  attain- 
ment. The  instruction  given  should,  as  far  as  possible, 
be  complete  in  itself,  —  while  it  should  afford  the  means 
of  making  further  advancement;  but  that  instruction 
which,  being  merely  superficial,  neither  itself  informs 
the  mind  nor  imparts  the  desire  and  the  means  of  future 
self -improvement,  is  worse  than  useless,  it  is  positively 
injurious.  A  few  branches  thoroughly  possessed  are 
worth  more  than  a  thousand  merely  glanced  at,  —  and 
the  idea  of  changing  our  common  schools  to  universities, 
where  our  children,  before  they  pass  from  the  years  of 
their  babyhood,  are  to  grasp  the  whole  range  of  the 
sciences,  is  one  of  the  most  preposterous  that  has 
grown  up  even  in  this  age  of  follies.  The  teacher  then 
should  not  undertake  too  much ;  he  should  be  sure  that 
he  can  accomplish  what  he  undertakes.  The  mark  he 
makes  upon  the  young  should  be  no  uncertain  sign. 

4.  Never  attend  to  extraneous  business  in  school  hours. 
This  is  a  common  fault.     Many  teachers  neglect  their 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  325 

duties  in  school  to  write  letters  or  transact  such  other 
business  as  should  be  done  at  home.  This  is  always 
wrong.  There  is  no  time  for  it  in  any  school;  for  a 
diligent  teacher  can  always  find  full  employment  even 
with  a  small  number.  Besides,  he  has  engaged  to  devote 
himself  to  the  school ;  and  any  departure  from  this  is  a 
violation  of  his  contract.  The  children  will  so  view  it 
and  thus  lose  much  of  their  respect  for  the  teacher. 
Moreover,  if  they  see  him  neglect  his  business  for  some 
other,  they  will  be  very  likely  to  neglect  theirs,  and 
thus  disorder  will  be  introduced.  I  hold  that  the 
teacher  is  bound  to  devote  every  moment  of  school  hours 
to  active  labor  for  the  school. 

5.  Avoid  making  excuses  to  visitors  for  the  defects  of 
your  school.  Franklin,  I  think,  said  that  "a  man  who 
is  good  for  making  excuses  is  good  for  nothing  else." 
I  have  often  thought  of  this  as  I  have  visited  the  schools 
of  persons  given  to  this  failing.  It  is  sometimes  quite 
amusing  to  hear  such  a  teacher  keep  up  a  sort  of  run- 
ning apology  for  the  various  pupils.  A  class  is  called 
to  read.  The  teacher  remarks,  "This  class  has  but 
just  commenced  reading  in  this  book."  Stephen  fin- 
ishes the  first  paragraph,  and  the  teacher  adds : 
"  Stephen  has  not  attended  school  very  regularly  lately." 
William  reads  the  second.  "This  boy,"  says  ""the 
teacher,  "  was  very  backward  when  I  came  here,  —  he 
has  but  just  joined  this  class."  Charles  executes  the  third. 
"That  boy  has  an  impediment  in  his  speech."  Reuben 
follows.  "  It  is  almost  impossible  to  make  a  good 
reader  of  Reuben  ;  he  never  seems  to  pay  the  least 
attention.  I  have  bestowed  unwearied  pains  upon  him." 
Mary  takes  her  turn.  "  This  girl  has  lost  her  book,  and 
her   father   refuses   to  buy  her   another."     Mary  here 


326  THEORY  -AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

blushes  to  the  eyes,  —  for  though  she  could  bear  his 
reproof,  she  still  has  some  sense  of  family  pride  ;  she 
bursts  into  tears,  while  Martha  reads  the  next  para- 
graph. "I  have  tried  all  along,"  says  the  teacher,  "to 
make  this  girl  raise  her  voice,  but  still  she  will  almost 
stifle  her  words."  Martha  looks  dejected,  and  the  next 
in  order  makes  an  attempt. 

Now  the  teacher  in  all  this  has  no  malicious  design 
to  wound  the  feelings  of  every  child  in  the  class,  —  and 
yet  he  as  effectually  accomplishes  that  result  as  if  he 
had  premeditated  it.  Every  scholar  is  interested  to 
read  as  well  as  possible  in  the  presence  of  strangers ; 
every  one  makes  the  effort  to  do  so ;  yet  every  one  is 
practically  pronounced  to  have  failed.  The  visitors 
pity  the  poor  pupils  for  the  pain  they  are  made  thus 
needlessly  to  suffer,  and  they  pity  also  the  weakness  of 
the  poor  teacher,  whose  love  of  approbation  has  so 
blinded  his  own  perception  that  he  is  regardless  of  the 
feelings  of  others,  and  thinks  of  nothing  but  his  own. 

This  overanxiety  for  the  good  opinion  of  others 
shows  itself  in  a  still  less  amiable  light,  when  the 
teacher  frequently  makes  unfavorable  allusions  to  his 
predecessor.  "When  /  came  here"  says  the  teacher 
significantly,  "I  found  them  all  poor  readers."  Or,  if 
a  little  disorder  occurs  in  school  he  takes  care  to  add  : 
"  I  found  the  school  in  perfect  confusion," — or,  "The 
former  teacher,  as  near  as  I  can  learn,  used  to  allow  the 
children  to  talk  and  play  as  much  as  they  pleased." 
Now,  whatever  view  we  take  of  such  a  course,  it  is  im- 
possible to  pronounce  it  anything  better  than  despicable 
meanness.  For  if  the  charge  is  true,  it  is  by  no  means 
magnanimous  to  publish  the  faults  of  another ;  and  if 
it   is    untrue  in  whole  or  in  part,  as  most  likely  it  is, 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  327 

none  but  a  contemptible  person  would  magnify  an- 
other's failings  to  mitigate  his  own. 

There  is  still  another  way  in  which  this  love  of  per- 
sonal applause  exhibits  itself.  I  have  seen  teachers 
call  upon  their  brightest  scholars  to  recite,  and  then 
ask  them  to  tell  their  age,  in  order  to  remind  the  visitor 
that  they  were  very  young  to  do  so  well ;  and  then  in- 
sinuate that  their  older  pupils  could  of  course  do  much 
better. 

All  these  arts,  however,  recoil  upon  the  teacher  who 
uses  them.  A  visitor  of  any  discernment  sees  through 
them  at  once,  and  immediately  suspects  the  teacher  of 
conscious  incompetency  or  willful  deception.  The  pupils 
lose  their  respect  for  a  man  whom  they  all  perceive  to 
be  acting  a  dishonorable  part.  I  repeat,  then,  Never 
attempt  to  cover  the  defects  of  your  schools  by  making 
ridiculous  excuses. 

6.  Never  compare  one  child  with  another.  It  is  a 
poor  way  of  stimulating  a  dull  pupil  to  compare  him 
with  a  better  scholar.  It  is  the  direct  way  to  engender 
hatred  in  the  mind  of  the  one,  and  the  most  consum- 
mate self-complacency  in  the  other.  Not  one  child  in 
a  thousand  can  be  publicly  held  up  to  the  school  as  a 
pattern  of  excellence  without  becoming  excessively  vain ; 
at  the  same  time  all  the  other  scholars  will  be  more  or 
less  excited  to  envy.  Such  a  course  is  always  unsafe ; 
almost  always  injurious. 

7.  Avoid  wounding  the  sensibilities  of  a  dull  child. 
There  will  always  be  those  in  every  school  who  are  slow 
to  comprehend.  After  their  classmates  have  grasped 
an  idea  during  the  teacher's  explanation,  they  still  have 
a  vacant  stare,  the  unintelligent  expression.  This  may 
be  so  after  a  second  or  third  explanation.     The  teacher 


328  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE    OE   TEACHING 

is  now  strongly  tempted  to  indulge  in  expressions  of 
impatience,  if  not  of  opprobrium.  This  temptation  he 
should  resist.  Such  children  are  to  be  pitied  for  their 
dullness,  but  never  to  be  censured  for  it.  It  is  an  un- 
feeling thing  to  sting  the  soul  that  is  already  benighted. 
He  should  cheer  and  encourage  such  a  slow  mind  to 
greater  effort,  by  the  sunshine  of  kind  looks,  and  the 
warm  breath  of  sympathy,  rather  than  freeze  up  the 
feeble  current  of  vivacity  which  yet  remains  there  by  a 
forbidding  frown  or  a  blast  of  reproach.  A  dull  child  is 
almost  always  affectionate ;  and  it  is  through  the  medium 
of  kindness  and  patience  that  such  a  one  is  most  effec- 
tually stimulated. 

8.  Never  lose  your  patience  when  parents  unreason- 
ably interfere  zvith  your  plans.  It  must  be  expected 
that  some  of  the  parents  will  wish  to  dictate  to  the 
teacher  what  course  he  shall  pursue,  at  least  in  relation 
to  their  own  children.  This  will  sometimes  bring  them 
to  the  schoolroom,  perhaps  in  a  tone  of  complaint,  to  set 
the  teacher  right.  Whenever  a  parent  thus  steps  be- 
yond the  bounds  of  propriety,  the  teacher  should  never 
lose  his  self-possession.  He  should  always  speak  the 
language  of  courtesy,  in  frankness,  but  in  firmness.  He 
should  reason  with  the  parent,  and  if  possible  convince 
him,  — but  he  should  never  insult  or  abuse  him.  It  may 
be  well  to  propose  to  see  him  at  his  own  house  in  order . 
to  talk  over  the  matter  more  at  his  leisure.  I  recollect 
once  a  parent  sent  a  hasty  refusal  to  purchase  a  neces- 
sary book  for  his  son,  —  a  refusal  clothed  in  no  very 
respectful  language.  I  gave  the  lad  a  courteous  note 
directed  to  his  father,  in  which  I  intimated  my  desire 
to  have  an  interview  with  him  at  his  house  at  such  time 
as  he  might  appoint.     In  half  an  hour  the  boy  came 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  329 

bounding  back  with  the  desired  book,  informing  me  that 
his-  father  said,  "  He  guessed  he  might  as  well  get  the 
book  and  done  with  it."  My  intercourse  with  that 
parent  was  ever  afterward  of  the  most  pleasant  kind. 
A  supercilious  parent  can  never  gain  an  advantage  over 
a  teacher,  unless  he  can  first  provoke  him  to  impatience 
or  anger.  As  long  as  the  teacher  is  perfectly  self- 
possessed  he  is  impregnable. 

9.  Never  make  the  study  of  the  Bible  a  punishment, 
I  have  known  a  teacher  to  assign  sundry  passages  of  the 
Bible,  condemnatory  of  a  particular  sin,  to  be  committed 
to  memory  as  a  punishment.  I  have  also  known  the 
idle  scholar  to  be  detained  after  school  to  study  pas- 
sages of  Scripture,  because  he  had  failed  to  learn  his 
other  lessons  in  due  time.  I  believe  this  to  be  bad 
policy,  as  well  as  doubtful  religion.  The  lessons  that 
a  child  thus  learns  are  always  connected  in  his  mind 
with  unpleasant  associations.  His  heart  is  not  made 
better  by  truths  thus  learned.  The  Bible  indeed  should 
be  studied  by  the  young,  but  they  should  be  attracted  to 
it  by  the  spirit  of  love,  rather  than  driven  to  it  by  the 
spirit  of  vindictiveness.  They  who  suppose  that  chil- 
dren can  be  made  to  love  the  Bible  by  being  thus  driven 
to  the  study  of  it,  have  sadly  mistaken  the  human  heart. 

10.  Ride  no  "hobbies"  in  teaching.  Almost  every 
man,  in  whatever  vocation,  has  some  hobby,  some  "one 
idea"  which  he  pushes  forward  on  all  occasions,  no 
matter  what  may  be  the  consequences.  It  is  not  strange 
that  it  is  often  thus  with  the  teacher.  If  the  teacher 
has  any  independence  of  mind,  any  originality,  he  will 
at  some  period  in  his  life  naturally  incline  to  try 
some  experiments  in  teaching.  Partly  on  account  of 
the  novelty  of  the  plan,  and  partly  on  account  of  the 


330  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

teacher's  interest  in  the  success  of  his  own  measure,  he 
finds  it  works  well  in  the  class  where  it  was  first  tried ; 
and  he  rejoices  that  he  has  made  a  discovery.  Teach- 
ing now  possesses  a  new  interest  for  him,  and  he  very 
likely  becomes  enthusiastic.  He  applies  his  new  measure 
to  other  classes,  and  loudly  recommends  it  to  other 
teachers.  For  a  time  it  succeeds  and  it  becomes  his 
hobby.  Whenever  a  stranger  visits  his  school  he  shows 
off  his  new  measure.  Whenever  he  attends  a  teachers' 
meeting  he  describes  it,  and  perhaps  presents  a  class  of 
his  pupils  to  verify  its  excellency.  He  abandons  his  old 
and  long-tried  plans,  and  persists  in  the  new  one.  By 
and  by  the  novelty  has  worn  away  and  his  pupils  be- 
come dull  under  its  operation,  and  reason  suggests  that 
a  return  to  the  former  methods  would  be  advisable. 
Still,  because  it  is  his  invention,  he  persists.  Others 
try  the  experiment.  Some  succeed ;  some  fail.  Some 
of  them  by  a  public  speech  commit  themselves  to  it, 
and  then  persist  in  it  to  preserve  their  consistency.  In 
this  way  a  great  many  objectionable  modes  of  teaching 
have  gained  currency  and  still  hold  their  sway  in  many 
of  our  schools. 

Among  these  I  might  mention  concert  recitation,  and 
oral  instruction  when  made  a  substitute  for  study.  Of 
the  origin  and  tendency  of  the  former  I  have  spoken 
more  at  length  in  the  chapter  on  "  Conducting  Recita- 
tions." Of  the  latter  a  word  or  two  may  be  said  in  this 
place. 

It  was  found  years  ago,  in  the  earlier  attempts  to 
teach  the  blind,  that  they  made  very  rapid  strides  in 
acquiring  knowledge  through  the  sole  medium  of  oral 
instruction.  As  might  have  been  foreseen,  they  became 
intensely  interested  in  hearing  about  things  which  had 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  331 

surrounded  them  all  their  days,  but  which  they  had 
never  seen.  Shut  in  as  they  were  from  the  privilege  of 
sight,  there  was  nothing  to  distract  their  attention  from 
whatever  was  communicated  to  them  through  the  sense 
of  hearing;  and  as  they  had  been  blind  from  their  birth, 
this  discipline  of  attention  had  been  going  on  from  in- 
fancy. Under  these  circumstances,  their  progress  in 
knowledge  by  mere  oral  teaching  was  astonishing.  This 
was  all  well.  But  soon,  some  one  conceived  the  idea 
of  substituting  oral  instruction  for  study  among  seeing 
children.  Immediately  there  was  an  oral  mania.  In- 
fant schools  grew  up  in  every  village,  —  infant  school 
manuals  were  prepared,  filled  with  scientific  baby  talk, 
for  the  use  of  the  worthy  dames  who  were  to  drive  the 
hobby,  and  the  nineteenth  century  bade  fair  to  do  more 
toward  lighting  up  the  fires  of  science  than  all  time 
before  had  accomplished !  It  was  truly  wonderful  for 
a  time  to  listen  to  the  learned  volubility  of  these  same 
infant  schools.  The  wonders  of  astronomy,  chemistry, 
botany,  and  zoology,  with  the  terms  of  Cuvier's  classi- 
fication, and  a  thousand  other  things,  were  all  detailed 
with  astonishing  familiarity  by  pupils  under  five  years 
of  age !  Some  eminent  teachers  sagely  took  the  hint, 
and  adopted  the  oral  system  with  their  older  classes. 
The  sciences  were  taught  by  lectures.  The  pupils  of 
this  happy  day  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  sit  and  receive. 
To  be  sure  sometimes  they  would  become  inattentive, 
and  it  would  be  discovered  by  their  teachers  that  they 
did  not  retain  quite  all  that  was  told  to  them.  This, 
however,  was  no  fault  of  the  system,  it  was  urged ;  the 
system  was  well  enough,  but  unfortunately  the  pupils 
had  eyes,  and  their  attention  was  frequently  diverted  by 
the  unlucky  use  of  these  worthless  organs.     A  royal 


332  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

road,  sure  enough,  was  found  to  the  temple  of  science, 
too  long  beyond  mortal  reach  by  reason  of  the  rugged 
footpath  over  which  the  student  was  compelled  to  climb. 
Happy,  glorious  day !  No  more  must  toil  and  thought 
be  the  price  of  success !  No  more  must  the  midnight 
oil  be  consumed,  and  the  brain  be  puzzled,  in  search  of 
the  wisdom  of  ages  !     No  more  must  the  eyes  be  pained 

—  (they  are  hereafter  to  be  considered  incumbrances) 

—  in  searching  the  classic  page ;  the  ear  is  to  be  the 
easy  inlet  to  the  soul ! 

Such  was  the  hobby  of  1829  to  1831  in  our  own  coun- 
try. During  sixteen  years  past,  those  babes  of  the  in- 
fant schools  have  grown  into  "  young  men  and  maidens/' 
in  no  way  distinguished,  after  all,  unless  they  have  since 
achieved  distinction  by  actual  study.  The  pupils  of 
those  higher  schools  have  obtained  whatever  they  now 
value  in  their  education  mainly  by  the  use  of  their  eyes, 
notwithstanding  at  one  time  their  worthy  guides  would 
have  almost  deemed  it  a  blessing  to  have  had  their  eyes 
put  out.  It  has  been  found  that  God  was  indeed  wise 
in  the  bestowment  of  sight,  —  and  some  at  least  have 
acknowledged  that  a  method  that  is  well  suited  to  the 
instruction  of  those  who  are  blind,  because  it  is  the  only 
possible  one  for  them,  may  not  be  the  best  for  those 
who  can  see. 

At  the  present  time  the  sentiment  begins  to  prevail 
that  oral  instruction  can  never  supply  the  place  of  study ; 
that  the  lecturing  or  "  pouring-in  process  "  cannot  long 
secure  the  attention  ;  that  the  mind  by  merely  receiving, 
gains  no  vigor  of  its  own ;  and  that  scholars  must  be 
made,  if  made  at  all,  mainly  by  their  own  exertions  in 
the  use  of  books. 

It  would  be  easy  to  mention  other  examples  of  hobbies 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  333 

which  have  been  ridden  by  teachers  very  much  to  the 
injury  of  their  schools.  Those  already  given  may,  how- 
ever, suffice  for  the  purpose  of  illustration. 

Let  it  be  remembered,  then,  that  no  one  method  of 
instruction  comprises  all  the  excellencies  and  avoids  all 
the  defects  of  good  teaching ;  and  that  he  is  the  wisest 
teacher  who  introduces  a  judicious  variety  into  his  modes 
of  instruction,  profiting  by  the  suggestions  of  others, 
but  relying  mainly  upon  his  own  careful  observation, 
eschewing  all  "patent  methods,"  and  never  losing  his 

COMMON   SENSE. 

Under  the  head  of  hobbies,  I  may  add  one  other  re- 
mark. Many  teachers  have  some  favorite  branch  of 
study,  in  which,  because  they  excel,  they  take  special 
delight.  One  man  is  a  good  mathematician,  another 
an  expert  accountant,  a  third  a  skillful  grammarian. 
Now  the  danger  is  that  the  favorite  branch  of  study 
may  become  the  hobby,  —  and  that  the  other  branches 
will  be  neglected.  This  is  indeed  not  unfrequently  the 
case. 

Again,  some  teachers  are  more  interested  in  the 
higher  branches  generally,  because  they  were  the  last 
pursued  in  their  college  course,  or  for  some  other 
reason.  They  therefore  neglect  the  lower  studies  to 
the  great  detriment  of  the  youth  under  their  charge. 
Against  all  such  partial  views  the  teacher  should  take 
great  pains  to  guard  himself.  He  may  fall  uncon- 
sciously and  almost  imperceptibly  into  some  of  these 
errors. 

Let  me  add  the  caution,  then,  —  Never  allow  your 
partiality  for  one  study,  or  a  class  of  studies,  to  divert 
your  attention  from  all  those  other  branches  which  are 
necessary  to  constitute  a  good  education. 


334           THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 
SECTION    II.  THINGS    TO    BE    PERFORMED 

I.  Convince  your  scholars  by  your  conduct  that  you  are 
their  friend.  It  is  all-important  that  you  should  gain 
complete  ascendency  over  the  minds  of  your  pupils. 
In  no  way  is  this  point  so  successfully  gained  as  by 
leading  them  to  feel  that  you  are  their  true  friend. 
When  they  feel  this,  all  their  sentiments  of  generosity, 
gratitude,  and  love,  conspire  to  lead  them  to  render 
cheerful  obedience  to  your  wishes.  Government  then 
becomes  easy  ;  instruction  is  no  longer  irksome ;  and 
you  can  most  cordially  respond  to  the  poet,  in  that 
beautiful  sentiment  too  seldom  fully  realized : 

"  Delightful  task  !  to  rear  the  tender  thought, 
And  teach  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot, 
To  pour  the  fresh  instruction  o^r  the  mind, 
To  breathe  the  enlivening  spirit,  and  to  fix 
The  generous  purpose  in  the  glowing  breast." 

But  effectually  to  convince  them  that  you  are  thus 
their  friend,  is  not  the  work  of  a  moment.  Words 
alone  can  never  do  it.  You  may  make  professions  of 
interest  in  them,  but  it  is  all  to  no  purpose.  Your 
actions,  your  looks,  your  whole  spirit  must  show  it. 
In  order  thus  to  exhibit  it,  you  must  feel  a  deep,  an 
all-pervading  interest  in  the  welfare  of  every  child. 
You  must  love  your  profession,  and  you  must  love  — 
sincerely  love  —  those  whom  you  are  called  to  teach. 
If  you  do  not  love  the  work  of  teaching,  and  cannot 
bring  yourself  to  love  the  children  of  your  charge,  you 
may  not  expect  success.  It  was  long  ago  declared  that 
"  Love  only  is  the  loan  for  love,"  — 

and   this   is  specially  true  with  the  love  of   children. 
Their  souls  spontaneously  go  out  after  those  who  love 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  335 

them.  Strive,  then,  to  gain  this  point  with  them,  not 
by  empty  pretensions,  always  quickly  read  and  as 
quickly  despised  by  the  young ;  but  by  that  full, 
frank,  cordial  expression  of  kindness  in  your  manner 
toward  them,  which,  being  based  upon  deep  principle 
in  yourself,  is  sure  at  once  to  win  their  affection  and 
their  ready  compliance  with  all  your  reasonable  requi- 
sitions. 

II.  Take  special  care  that  the  schoolhonse  and  its  ap- 
pendages are  kept  in  good  order.  This  is  a  part  of  every 
teacher's  duty.  He  should  have  an  eye  that  is  con- 
stantly on  the  alert  to  perceive  the  smallest  beginnings 
of  injury  to  any  part  of  the  premises.  It  is  often  pain- 
ful to  see  a  new  schoolhouse  that  has  with  much  care 
and  expense  been  put  in  perfect  order,  very  soon  cut 
and  otherwise  disfigured  by  the  pupils,  —  the  glass 
broken,  the  ceiling  soiled,  the  desks  and  floors  stained 
with  ink,  and  everything  bearing  the  marks  of  youthful 
destructiveness.  The  teacher  should  be  held  account- 
able for  such  results,  for  he  can  by  proper  vigilance 
prevent  them. 

Some  of  his  first  lessons  to  his  pupils  should  be  upon 
the  subject  of  practical  neatness  in  regard  to  everything 
that  pertains  to  the  school.  They  should  be  impressed 
with  the  belief  that  he  holds  neatness  as  a  cardinal 
virtue.  Daily  should  he  watch  to  discover  the  first 
violation  of  propriety  upon  the  premises.  This  first 
violation  should  be  promptly  met.  There  is  great  wis- 
dom in  the  adage  which  enjoins  us  to  "  resist  the 
beginnings." 

So,  too,  he  should  exercise  an  oversight  of  the  books 
belonging  to  the  pupils.  Many  books  are  speedily  de- 
stroyed by  children  for  the  want  of  a  little  care  of  the 


336  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

teacher,  —  probably  more  than  are  worn  out  by  use. 
He  should  also  occasionally  inspect  the  desks  with  a 
view  to  promote  a  commendable  neatness  there.  The 
teacher  has  an  undoubted  right  to  inspect  any  part  of 
the  premises,  —  but  by  a  little  adroitness  he  can  inter- 
est the  children  in  a  reform  of  this  kind,  and  then  they 
will  desire  that  he  should  witness  their  carefulness. 

I  may  add  further,  that  the  children  should  not  only 
be  taught  to  respect  the  schoolhouse  and  its  append- 
ages, but  they  should  be  taught  to  regard  the  sacred- 
ness  of  all  property  either  public  or  private.  The 
neighboring  garden  or  orchard  should  be  held  to  be 
inviolable.  The  teacher  may  not  have  the  authority 
to  compel  compliance  with  his  direction  or  advice  be- 
yond school  hours,  but  he  should  endeavor  to  exercise 
a  moral  influence  in  the  school  which  will  be  more 
powerful  even  than  compulsion.  So  in  regard  to  pub- 
lic buildings,  such  as  churches  and  courthouses;  and 
all  public  grounds,  as  parks,  commons,  and  cemeteries, 
—  the  teacher  should  inculcate  not  only  the  duty  to 
abstain  from  injuring  them,  but  a  commendable  desire 
to  see  them  improved  and  beautified.  In  America,  it 
is  remarked  by  foreigners,  there  is  a  strange  tendency 
to  destructiveness.  In  our  public  buildings,  the  walls 
are  usually  disfigured  by  names  and  drawings,  and  even 
our  cemeteries  do  not  escape  the  violence  of  the  knives 
of  visitors,  the  trees  being  cut  and  marked  with  names, 
and  the  flowers  plucked  off  and  carried  away.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  our  teachers  will  so  exercise  a  reform- 
ing influence,  that  the  next  generation  shall  exercise  a 
higher  principle  as  well  as  a  better  taste  in  all  these 
matters,  which,  small  as  they  are,  make  up  no  mean 
Dart  of  the  manners  and  morals  of  a  people. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  337 

III.  When  scholars  do  wrong y  it  is  sometimes  best  to 
withhold  immediate  reproof,  but  to  describe  a  similar 
case  in  general  instruction.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
effectual  modes  of  curing  the  evil  in  the  wrongdoer 
himself.  It,  moreover,  gives  the  teacher  a  valuable 
text  for  a  lesson  on  morals  before  the  whole  school. 
Care  should  generally  be  taken  not  to  lead  the  school  to 
suspect  the  individual  in  your  mind,  while  at  the  same 
time  the  parable  should  so  fit  the  case  as  to  preclude 
the  necessity  of  saying  to  the  offender,  as  Nathan  did 
to  David  :  "  Thou  art  the  man." 

A  case  will  illustrate  this.  I  recollect  once  to  have 
found,  among  a  large  number  of  compositions  presented 
by  a  class,  one  that  I  knew  to  have  been  copied.  No 
notice  was  taken  of  it  at  the  time ;  but  some  days  after- 
ward a  case  was  described  to  the  class,  resembling  the 
one  that  had  actually  occurred.  After  exciting  consid- 
erable interest  in  the  case,  they  were  told  that  such  a 
thing  had  happened  among  their  own  number;  that  I 
did  not  choose  to  expose  the  individual ;  but  if  any  of 
them  thought  it  would  be  honorable  for  them  to  confess 
such  an  offense  to  me  in  case  they  had  committed  it, 
they  might  seek  a  private  opportunity  to  do  so.  In  less 
than  twenty-four  hours  no  less  than  four  made  such  a 
confession,  detailing  freely  the  extent  and  the  circum- 
stances of  their  offending.  In  this  way  four  were  re- 
formed, •  where  by  direct  reproof  only  one  could  have 
been  reached.  It  was  a  frank,  not  a  forced  confession ; 
and  I  was  thus  easily  made  to  know  the  extent  of  this 
sin  in  the  school.  By  this  simple  expedient,  I  have 
reason  to  believe,  plagiarism  was  effectually  eradicated 
for  that  term  at  least,  in  the  whole  class,  and  that  too 
without  the  loss  of  any  pupil's  good  will. 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  22 


338  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

It  is  generally  wiser  to  endeavor  to  reach  the  evil  in 
its  whole  extent,  than  to  expend  one's  strength  upon  a 
single  instance  of  wrongdoing.  The  conscience  of 
the  whole  school  may  sometimes  be  profitably  aroused, 
while  the  particular  individual  is  quite  as  effectively 
corrected  as  he  would  be  by  a  direct  reproof. 

IV.  Be  accurate.  This  is  necessary  in  order  to  secure 
the  respect  of  your  pupils.  What  the  teacher  professes 
to  know  he  should  be  sure  of.  Approximations  to  the 
truth  are  not  enough  to  satisfy  the  young  mind.  When- 
ever a  teacher  makes  a  blunder  by  stating  what  is  not 
true  in  regard  to  any  fact  or  principle  in  science,  any 
event  in  history,  or  any  item  of  statistics,  he  lowers 
himself  very  much  in  the  estimation  of  all  those  who 
are  capable  of  detecting  his  error.  If  he  does  not  know 
he  may  frankly  say  so  and  incur  no  just  censure,  pro- 
vided the  point  be  one  about  which  he  has  not  had 
the  opportunity  to  gain  the  requisite  information.  But 
when  he  attempts  to  speak  with  the  authority  of  a 
teacher,  he  "  should  know  that  whereof  he  affirms." 
"The  character  of  the  teacher,"  says  Professor  Olmsted, 
"is  sullied  by  frequent  mistakes,  like  that  of  a  book 
keeper  or  banker.  It  is  surprising  to  see  how  soon  even 
the  youngest  learner  will  lose  his  confidence  and  respect 
for  his  teacher,  when  he  has  detected  in  him  occasional 
mistakes.  At  every  such  discovery  he  rises  in  his  own 
estimation,  and  the  teacher  proportionally  sinks.  The 
very  character  of  the  pupil  is  injured  by  such  an  inci- 
dent. He  rapidly  loses  the  docility  and  modesty  so 
essential  to  the  scholar,  and  becomes  uplifted  with 
pride  and  self-importance."  The  superciliousness  thus 
induced  becomes  a  sore  vexation  to  the  teacher.  He 
finds  that  his  pupils  are  watching  for  his  halting,  —  and 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  339 

he  frequently  fails,  from  this  very  circumstance,  to  do 
as, well  as  he  might.  I  know  of  no  more  pitiable  con- 
dition on  earth  than  that  of  a  teacher  who  is  attempt 
ing  to  teach  what  he  does  not  fully  understand,  while 
he  is  conscious  that  his  pupils  doubt  his  ability,  from  a 
frequent  detection  of  his  mistakes. 

V.  Cultivate  a  pleasant  countenance.  Frowns  and 
scowls  always  sit  with  ill  grace  upon  the  teacher's  brow. 
I  know  that  the  trials  and  perplexities  incident  to  his 
daily  life  are  eminently  fitted  "to  chafe  his  mood"  and 
to  provoke  his  impatience.  I  know,  too,  that  protracted 
confinement  from  the  pure  air  and  the  bright  sunlight 
will  almost  necessarily  render  the  nervous  system  mor- 
bidly sensitive,  and  the  temper  of  course  extremely 
irritable.  The  outward  exponent  of  all  this  is  a  de- 
jected and  perhaps  an  angry  countenance.  The  eye- 
brows are  drawn  up  so  that  the  forehead  is  deeply  and 
prematurely  furrowed,  while  the  angles  of  the  mouth 
are  suffered  to  drop  downward  as  if  in  token  of  utter 
despair.  By  and  by  the  roguishness  of  some  unlucky 
urchin  disturbs  the  current  of  his  thoughts,  —  and 
suddenly  the  brow  is  firmly  knitted  with  transverse 
channels,  the  nostrils  are  distended,  the  jaws  are  firmly 
closed,  the  lips  are  compressed,  the  cheeks  are  flushed, 
and  the  eyes  almost  emit  sparks  from  the  pent-upriire 
within  him.  For  the  next  half  hour  he  frowns  on  all 
about  him.  The  children  at  first  are  awed  by  such  a 
threatening  aspect,  —  but  soon  they  become  accustomed 
to  it,  and  the  terrible  very  naturally  gives  place  to  the 
ridiculous. 

No  man  has  a  moral  right  to  render  those  uncomfort- 
able who  surround  him,  by  habitually  covering  his  face 
with  the  looks  of   discontent  and   moroseness.     It  is 


340  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF   TEACHING 

peculiarly  wrong  for  the  teacher  to  do  it.  It  is  for  him 
to  present  an  example  of  self-government  under  all  cir- 
cumstances so  that  he  can  consistently  enforce  the  duty 
of  self-control  upon  the  young.  It  is  for  him  to  show 
himself  a  man  of  principle,  of  benevolence,  of  cheerful 
devotion  to  his  duty,  however  full  of  trials  that  duty 
may  be ;  and  in  no  way  can  he  do  this  more  effectually 
than  by  an  amiable  and  engaging  countenance.  A 
peevish,  frowning  teacher  is  very  likely  to  produce 
petulance  and  sullenness  in  his  pupils ;  while  a  cordial 
smile,  like  the  genial  beam  of  the  spring-day  sun,  not 
only  sheds  a  welcome  light  on  all  around,  but  imparts 
a  blessed  heat  which  penetrates  the  frigidity  of  the 
heart,  dissipates  the  cheerless  mists  that  hover  there, 
and  warms  the  generous  affections  into  life  and  beauty. 

We  are  so  constituted  that  the  inward  and  the  out- 
ward sympathize  with  each  other.  Solomon  says,  "  A 
merry  heart  maketh  a  cheerful  countenance,''  —  and  I 
may  venture  to  add,  and  with  almost  as  much  truth,  a 
cheerful  countenance  maketh  a  merry  heart.  An  honest 
attempt  to  bless  others  with  the  sight  of  a  countenance 
that  is  expressive  of  content  and  patience  is  an  act  so 
praiseworthy  in  itself  that  it  will  never  go  unrewarded. 
The  gratifying  response  which  such  a  countenance  is 
sure  to  call  forth  from  others,  brings  with  it  a  rich 
revenue  of  inward  enjoyment.  He,  therefore,  who 
habitually  bears  about  with  him  a  sad  or  an  angry 
countenance,  while  he  constantly  impairs  the  happiness 
of  others,  lacks  at  the  same  time  an  important  instru- 
mentality for  securing  his  own. 

But  the  question  will  arise,  —  can  a  man  gain  such 
ascendency  over  himself  as  to  control  the  expression  of 
his   countenance  ?     I  answer,  without  hesitation,  Yes. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  34I 

"  Whatever  ought  to  be  done,  can  be  done."  It  is  not 
perfectly  easy  to  do  it,  especially  for  the  teacher.  Still, 
self-control  —  full,  complete  self-control  —  is  his  appro- 
priate duty  as  well  as  privilege.  He  must,  as  Carlyle 
quaintly  enjoins,  "  learn  to  devour  the  chagrins  of  his 
lot."  He  must  calculate  beforehand  that  every  day 
will  bring  its  cares  and  its  trials ;  but  he  should  daily 
resolve  that  they  shall  never  take  him  by  surprise,  nor 
betray  him  into  sudden  impatience.  Each  morning  as 
he  walks  to  the  scene  of  his  labors,  he  should  fortify 
himself  against  sudden  anger  or  habitual  moroseness  in 
this  wise  :  "  No  doubt  this  day  some  untoward  occur- 
rence will  transpire,  calculated  to  try  my  patience  and 
to  provoke  me  to  fretful  words  and  angry  looks.  All 
my  past  experience  leads  me  to  expect  this.  But  this 
day  I  will  try  to  resist  the  temptation  to  this  weakness. 
I  will  try  to  be  self-possessed.  If  any  child  is  vicious, 
or  fretful,  or  dull,  or  even  impudent,  I  will  endeavor  to 
show  that  I  can  command  myself.  If  I  feel  some  angry 
passion  enkindling  within  me,  I  will  stop  and  think, 
and  I  will  endeavor  to  smile  before  I  speak.  If  I  can 
to-day  gain  the  victory  over  impatience,  and  can  main- 
tain an  even  and  cheerful  temper,  and  express  it  con- 
stantly in  my  countenance,  it  will  be  easier  to  do  it 
to-morrow.     At  all  events  I'll  try" 

Taking  hold  thus  in  earnest,  any  man  may  soon  be 
his  own  master.  He  can  gain  the  victory.  If  he  can 
do  it,  he  ought  to  do  it.  Hence  I  urge  it  as  a  duty. 
Nor  is  it  merely  a  duty.  It  is  a  high  privilege.  A 
complete  victory  for  a  single  day  will  bring  its  own 
reward.  A  man  who  feels  that  he  has  risen  above  his 
temptation  can  return  to  his  rest  with  a  light  and  happy 
heart.     Sleep  to  him  will  be  sweet,  and  he  will  arise  on 


342  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF   TEACHING 

the  morrow  with  renewed  strength  for  the  fresh  con- 
flict, —  and  in  the  moral  as  well  as  in  the  literal  warfare, 
every  contest  which  ends  in  victory  gives  additional 
strength  to  the  victor,  while  it  weakens  and  disheartens 
his  enemy. 

VI.  Study  to  acquire  the  art  of  aptly  illustrating  a 
difficult  subject.  Some  teachers  content  themselves 
with  answering  in  the  precise  language  of  the  book 
whenever  a  question  for  information  is  propounded. 
This,  however,  is  by  no  means  sufficient,  even  when  the 
language  of  the  book  is  strictly  accurate ;  much  less 
when  the  language  is  so  vague  as  to  convey  no  definite 
idea  to  the  mind  either  of  the  learner  or  the  teacher. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  man  who  is  apt  to  teach  will  de- 
vise some  ingenious  method  of  enlightening  the-  mind 
of  his  pupil,  so  that  he  shall  lay  hold  of  the  idea  as  with 
a  manly  grasp,  and  make  it  his  own  forever. 

This  point  will,  perhaps,  be  best  illustrated  by  an 
example.  A  young  man  was  employed  to  take  charge 
of  a  school  for  a  few  days  during  a  temporary  illness  of 
the  regular  instructor.  He  was  a  good  scholar,  as  the 
world  would  say,  and  was  really  desirous  to  answer  the 
expectation  of  his  employers.  After  the  regular  teacher 
had  so  far  recovered  his  health  as  to  be  able  to  leave  his 
room,  he  walked  one  pleasant  day  to  the  school  to  see 
what  success  attended  the  labors  of  the  new  incum- 
bent. A  class  was  reciting  in  natural  philosophy.  The 
subject  under  consideration  was  —  the  obstacles  which 
impede  the  notion  of  machinery.  The  att7raction  of 
gravity,  as  one  of  these,  was  pretty  easily  disposed  of  ; 
for  the  class  had  before  been  instructed  on  that  point. 
Friction  came  next.  Here,  too,  the  pupils,  having  had 
some   practical   experience  of   their  own,  in  dragging 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  343 

their  sleds,  in  skating,  or  perhaps  in  turning  a  grind- 
stone, found  no  great  difficulty.  The  book  spoke  a 
language  sufficiently  clear  to  be  understood.  Next 
came  the  "resistance  of  the  various  media,"  to  use  the 
language  of  the  text-book.  "  Yes,"  said  the  teacher, 
as  one  of  the  pupils  gravely  quoted  this  language, 
"that  has  no  inconsiderable  effect." 

"  The  '  resistance  of  the  various  media  '  ?  "  — repeated 
one  of  the  boys  inquiringly,  "  I  do  not  know  as  I  un- 
derstand what  media  means." 

"  A  medium  is  that  in  which  a  body  moves,"  was  the 
ready  reply  which  the  teacher  read  from  the  book. 

Pupil.  —  A  medium  ? 

Teacher.  —  Yes ;  we  say  medium  when  we  mean  but 
one,  and  media  when  we  mean  more  than  one. 

Pupil.  —  When  we  mean  but  one  ? 

Teacher.  — Yes;  medium  is  singular — media  is  plural. 

After  this  discussion,  which  began  in  philosophy  but 
ended  in  grammar,  the  teacher  was  about  to  proceed 
with  the  next  question  of  the  book.  But  the  scholar 
was  not  yet  satisfied,  and  he  ventured  to  press  his 
inquiries  a  little  further. 

Pupil.  —  Is  this  room  a  medium  ? 

Teacher.  —  This  room  ? 

Pupil.  —  Yes,  sir ;  you  said  that  a  medium  was  "that 
in  which  anybody  moves,"  and  we  all  move  in  this 
room. 

Teacher.  —  Yes,  but  medium  does  not  mean  a  room ; 
it  is  the  substance  in  which  a  body  moves. 

Here  the  lad  looked  perplexed  and  unsatisfied.  He 
had  no  clear  idea  of  the  meaning  of  this  new  term. 
The  teacher  looked  at  his*  watch  and  then  glanced  at 
the  remaining  pages  of  the  lesson  and  seemed  impa- 


344  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF   TEACHING 

tient  to  proceed,  —  so  the  pupil  forbore  to  inquire 
further. 

The  regular  teacher,  who  had  listened  to  the  discus- 
sion with  no  ordinary  interest,  both  because  he  admired 
the  inquisitiveness  of  the  boy,  and  because  he  was  curi- 
ous to  discover  how  far  the  new  incumbent  possessed 
the  power  of  illustration,  here  interposed. 

"John,"  —  taking  his  watch  in  his  hand,  —  "would 
this  watch  continue  to  go  if  I  should  drop  it  into  a  pail 
of  water  ? " 

"  I  should  think  it  would  not  long,"  said  John,  after 
a  little  reflection. 

"Why  not?"  said  his  teacher,  as  he  opened  his 
watch. 

"  Because  the  water  would  get  round  the  wheels  and 
stop  it,  I  should  think,"  said  John. 

"  How  would  it  be  if  I  should  drop  it  into  a  quart  of 
molasses  ? " 

The  boys  laughed. 

"  Or  into  a  barrel  of  tar  ?  " 

The  boys  still  smiled. 

"  Suppose  I  should  force  it,  while  open,  into  a  quan- 
tity of  lard." 

Here  the  boys  laughed  heartily,  while  John  said, 
"The  watch  would  not  go  in  any  of  these  articles." 

"Articles?"  said  his  teacher,  "why  not  say  media  ? " 

John's  eye  glistened  as  he  caught  the  idea.  "O,  I 
understand  it  now." 

His  teacher  then  said  that  many  machines  worked  in 
air,  —  then  the  air  was  the  medium.  A  fish  swims  in 
water,  —  water  is  his  medium.  A  fish  could  hardly 
swim  in  molasses  or  tar.  "  Now,"  inquired  he,  "  why 
not?" 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  345 

"  Because  of  the  resistance  of  the  medium,"  said 
John,  with  a  look  of  satisfaction. 

"  Now,  why  will  the  watch  go  in  air  and  not  in 
water?" 

"  Because  the  water  is  more  dense,"  said  John 
promptly. 

"  Then  upon  what  does  the  resistance  of  a  medium 
depend  ? " 

Here  the  new  teacher  interposed  and  said  that  was 
the  next  question  in  the  book,  and  he  was  just  going  to 
ask  it  himself.  The  regular  teacher  put  his  watch  into 
his  pocket  and  became  a  spectator  again,  and  the  les- 
son proceeded  with  unwonted  vivacity.  The  difference 
between  these  two  teachers  mainly  consisted  in  the  fact 
that  one  had  the  ingenuity  to  devise  an  expedient  to 
meet  a  difficulty  whenever  occasion  required,  —  the 
other  had  not. 

Now  in  order  to  teach  well  a  man  should  diligently 
seek  for  expedients.  He  should  endeavor  to  foresee 
the  very  points  where  the  learner  will  stumble,  and  pro- 
vide himself  with  the  means  of  rendering  timely  aid. 
If  an  object  cannot  be  described  in  words,  let  it  be  com- 
pared with  what  it  resembles,  or  with  what  it  contrasts. 
If  it  be  an  object  of  sense,  and  words  and  comparisons 
fail  to  describe  it,  —  in  the  absence  of  apparatus  to 
represent  it,  let  the  teacher  spring  to  the  blackboard 
and  execute  a  hasty  drawing  of  it.  In  this  way  the 
construction  or  the  working  of  a  machine,  the  form  of 
a  bone  or  the  action  of  a  joint,  the  shape  of  a  town  or 
the  plan  of  a  building,  —  in  short,  almost  every  subject 
that  involves  the  relations  of  form,  size,  proportion, 
quantity,  or  number,  will  admit  of  visible  illustration. 
He  is  the  successful    teacher  who  is  able  at   the  mo- 


346  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

ment  to  seize  upon  the  best  expedient,  and  render  it 
subservient  to  his  purpose. 

VII.  Taking  advantage  of  unusual  occurrences  to  make 
a  moral  or  religious  impression.  In  a  former  chapter 
I  have  urged  it  as  a  part  of  the  teacher's  work  to  cul- 
tivate and  strengthen  both  the  moral  sentiments  and 
the  religious  feelings  of  the  members  of  his  school. 
This  is  not  most  effectually  done  by  a  formal  mode  of 
speaking  to  them  on  these  subjects.  If  a  particular 
hour  is  set  apart  for  formal  lectures  on  their  duty  to 
their  fellow-men  and  their  obligations  to  God,  they  are 
very  apt  to  fortify  their  sensibilities  against  the  most 
faithful  appeals,  and  thus  render  them  powerless.  The 
wise  teacher  will  watch  for  the  fit  opportunity,  and,  just 
at  the  moment  when  the  heart  is  prepared  by  some 
suitable  occurrence,  —  when  by  some  exhibition  of  the 
Creator's  power  it  is  awed  into  reverence  or  softened 
into  submission  ;  or  by  some  display  of  his  goodness  it 
is  warmed  into  gratitude  or  animated  with  delight, — 
with  a  few  words,  seasonably  and  "  fitly  spoken,"  he 
fixes  the  impression  forever.  Speaking  at  the  right 
time,  every  ear  listens,  and  every  heart  feels.  Perhaps 
many  of  my  readers  can  revert  to  some  season  in  their 
childhood,  endeared  to  them  by  a  precious  recollection 
of  golden  words  thus  opportunely  uttered,  — words 
fraught  with  truth  which  in  after  life  has  had  an  un- 
speakable influence  in  the  formation  of  their  character. 
One  or  two  examples  connected  with  my  own  experi- 
ence may  be  presented  more  fully  to  illustrate  my  mean- 
ing ;  while  at  the  same  time  they  may  afford,  it  is  hoped, 
some  valuable  hints  for  the  encouragement  and  guidance 
of  such  young  teachers  as  desire  in  this  way  to  make 
themselves  the  instruments  of  lasting  benefit  to  the  young. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  347 

Example  I.  —  I  can  never  forget  —  nor  would  I  if  I 
could  —  a  lesson  impressed  upon  my  own  youthful  mind, 
conveying  the  truth  that  we  are  constantly  dependent 
upon  our  Heavenly  Father  for  protection.  In  a  plain 
country  schoolhouse  some  twenty-five  children,  includ- 
ing myself,  were  assembled  with  our  teacher  on  the 
afternoon  of  a  summer's  day.  We  had  been  as  happy 
and  as  thoughtless  as  the  sportive  lambs  that  cropped 
the  clover  of  the  neighboring  hillside.  Engrossed  with 
study  or  play,  —  for  at  this  distance  of  time  it  is  im- 
possible to  tell  which,  —  we  had  not  noticed  the  low 
rumbling  of  the  distant  thunder  till  a  sudden  flash  of 
lightning  arrested  our  attention.  Immediately  the  sun 
was  veiled  by  the  cloud,  and  a  corresponding  gloom 
settled  upon  every  face  within.  The  elder  girls  with 
the  characteristic  thoughtfulness  of  woman  hastily  in- 
quired whether  they  should  not  make  the  attempt  to 
lead  their  younger  brothers  and  sisters  to  the  paternal 
roof  before  the  bursting  of  the  storm.  For  a  moment 
our  little  community  was  thrown  into*  utter  confusion. 
The  teacher  stepped  hastily  to  the  door  to  survey  more 
perfectly  the  aspect  of  the  western  heavens.  Immedi- 
ately returning,  he  signified  to  the  children  that  there 
would  not  be  time  for  them  to  reach  their  homes  before 
the  tempest  would  be  upon  them.  Oppressed  with 
dread, — for  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  children  in 
the  country  to  be  terrified  by  lightning,  —  some  of  the 
youngest  of  us  clung  to  our  older  brothers  or  sisters, 
while  others,  being  the  sole  representatives  of  their 
family  in  the  school,  for  the  first  time  felt  their  utter 
loneliness  in  the  midst  of  strangers,  and  gave  utter- 
ance to  their  feelings  in  audible  sighs  or  unequivocal 
sobs. 


348  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF   TEACHING 

The  teacher,  meanwhile,  with  an  exemplary  calmness 
and  self-possession,  closed  the  windows  and  the  doors 
and  then  seated  himself  quite  near  the  younger  pupils, 
to  await  the  result.  The  thick  darkness  gathered  about 
us  as  if  to  make  the  glare  of  the  lightning  by  contrast 
more  startling  to  our  vision ;  while  the  loud  thunder 
almost  instantly  followed,  as  it  were  the  voice  of  God. 
The  wind  howled  through  the  branches  of  a  venerable 
tree  near  by,  bending  its  sturdy  trunk  and  threatening 
to  break  asunder  the  cords  which  bound  it  to  its  mother 
earth.  An  angry  gust  assailed  the  humble  building 
where  we  were  sheltered ;  it  roared  down  the  capacious 
chimney,  violently  closed  a  shutter  that  lacked  a  fasten- 
ing, breaking  the  glass  by  its  concussion,  and  almost 
forced  in  the  frail  window  sashes  on  the  westerly  side 
of  the  room.  Quicker  and  more  wild  the  lightnings 
glared  —  flash  after  flash  —  as  if  the  heavens  were  on 
fire ;  louder  and  nearer  the  thunder  broke  above  our 
heads,  while  the  inmates  of  the  room,  save  the  teacher, 
were  pale  with  terror. 

At  this  moment  there  was  a  sudden  cessation  of  the 
war  of  elements,  —  a  hush  —  almost  a  prophetic  pause ! 
It  was  that  brief  interval  which  precedes  the  falling 
torrent.  A  dread  stillness  reigned  within  the  room. 
Every  heart  beat  hurriedly,  and  every  countenance  told 
the  consternation  that  was  reigning  within.  It  was  an 
awful  moment ! 

With  a  calm  voice,  breathing  a  subdued  and  confiding 
spirit,  the  teacher  improved  this  opportunity  to  impress 
upon  our  young  minds  a  great  truth.  "  Fear  not, 
children,"  said  he,  "it  is  your  Heavenly  Father  that 
sends  the  storm  as  well  as  the  sunshine  and  the  gentle 
breeze.     You  have  been  just  as  much  in  his  power  all 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  349 

day  as  you  are  at  this  moment.  He  has  been  as  near 
you,  supporting  you,  supplying  you  with  breath,  with 
life,  all  through  the  pleasant  morning;  but  then  you 
did  not  see  him.  He  is  just  as  able  to  protect  you  now, 
for  '  Not  a  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground  without  his 
notice,'  —  and  he  ruleth  the  storm  and  'rideth  upon  the 
wings  of  the  wind/  We  should  ever  feel  willing  to 
trust  him ;  for  he  is  ever  able  to  grant  us  deliverance 
from  all  our  dangers.     God  is  here  now  to  protect  us."  \ 

Just  as  he  had  finished  these  words  the  rain  began  to 
fall.  First  the  drops  were  few  and  scattered ;  but  soon 
the  windows  of  heaven  were  opened  and  the. thirsty 
ground  was  abundantly  satisfied.  The  sound  of  the 
thunder  became  fainter  and  fainter  as  the  cloud  passed 
away ;  the  sun  burst  out  again  in  renewed  splendor ; 
the  full  drops  glittered  in  his  beams  upon  the  grass; 
the  birds  began  their  songs;  the  rainbow  spanned  the 
eastern  hills ;  and  our  hearts,  taught  by  the  timely  in- 
struction of  a  good  man,  began  to  expand  with  eager 
gratitude  for  our  preservation  by  the  hand  of  our 
Heavenly  Father. 

The  remainder  of  the  afternoon  passed  happily  away, 
and  when  our  books  were  laid  aside  and  we  were  ready 
to  burst  out  of  the  room  to  enjoy  the  refreshing  air  and 
participate  in  the  general  joy,  the  teacher,  taking  the 
Bible  from  the  desk,  asked  us  to  remain  quiet  a  mo- 
ment while  he  would  read  a  few  words  that  he  hoped 
we  should  never  forget. 

The  passage  was  the  following,  from  the  65th 
Psalm : 

"  By  terrible  things  in  righteousness  wilt  thou  answer  us,  O  God  of 
our  salvation ;  who  art  the  confidence  of  all  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
and  of  them  that  are  afar  off  upon  the  sea.     Which  by  his  strength 


350  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

setteth  fast  the  mountains  ;  being  girded  with  power :  which  stilleth 
the  noise  of  the  seas,  the  noise  of  their  waves,  and  the  tumult  of  the 
people. 

They  also  that  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  are  afraid  at  thy 
tokens :  thou  makest  the  outgoings  of  the  morning  and  evening  to 
rejoice. 

Thou  visitest  the  earth  and  waterest  it:  thou  greatly  enrichest  it 
with  the  river  of  God,  which  is  full  of  water :  thou  preparest  them 
corn,  when  thou  hast  so  provided  for  it. 

Thou  waterest  the  ridges  thereof  abundantly :  thou  settlest  the 
furrows  thereof:  thou  makest  it  soft  with  showers  :  thou  blessest  the 
springing  thereof. 

Thou  crownest  the  year  with  thy  goodness;  and  thy  paths  drop 
fatness.  They  drop  upon  the  pastures  of  the  wilderness :  and  the 
little  hills  rejoice  on  every  side. 

The  pastures  are  clothed  with  flocks  ;  the  valleys  also  are  covered 
over  with  corn  ;  they  shout  for  joy,  they  also  sing." 

After  closing  the  book  the  teacher  said  :  "  Go  out  now, 
children,  and  witness  how  perfectly  these  words  have 
been  fulfilled  toward  us  this  afternoon,  —  and  from  this 
day's  mercies,  learn  hereafter  to  trust  God  as  confidently 
in  the  storm,  when  he  displays  his  power  by  his  outward 
'tokens,'  as  when  he  kindly  smiles  upon  you  in  the 
beams  of  the  glorious  sun,  or  gently  breathes  upon  you 
in  the  morning  breeze. " 

We  went  forth  bounding  in  gladness  and  gratitude 
and  saw  the  "outgoings  of  the  evening  to  rejoice,"  — 
"the  pastures  clothed  with  flocks,"  —  "the  valleys  cov- 
ered over  with  corn,"  —  "the  little  hills  rejoicing  on 
every  side ;  "  —  we  heard  also  the  general  shout  for  joy, 
—  and  we  felt  as  we  never  before  had  felt,  a  deep, 
thorough,  abiding  conviction  of  the  truth  that  God  is 
our  father  and  our  friend ;  the  God  of  our  salvation. 

I  know  not  how  soon  these  impressions  faded  from 
the  minds  of  the  other  children,  —  but  for  myself  I  can 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  35 1 

say,  that  from  that  time  to  the  present,  whenever  I  have 
been  exposed  to  apparent  danger  from  the  impending 
tempest,  the  warring  elements,  or  the  ravages  of  disease, 
the  teachings  of  that  hour  have  always  revived  in  my 
mind  to  soothe  my  troubled  spirit  and  to  reassure  my 
faith  and  confidence  in  the  presence  of  an  all-sufficient 
and  merciful  Preserver.  A  thousand  times  have  I 
devoutly  blessed  the  memory  of  that  faithful  teacher, 
for  having  so  early  and  so  happily  turned  my  thoughts 
upward  to  Him  in  whom  "  we  live,  and  move,  and  have 
our  being." 

Example  II.  —  It  was  in  the  afternoon  of  a  gloomy 
day  in  the  latter  part  of  November,  when  the  pupils, 
consisting  of  some  fifty  boys  belonging  to  a  school  in 
a  pleasant  seaport  town  in  New  England,  were  told  by 
their  teacher  a  few  minutes  before  the  usual  hour  that 
they  might  lay  aside  their  studies  and  prepare  for  dis- 
mission. During  the  early  part  of  the  day  there  had 
been  one  of  those  violent  southeast  rain  storms  so  com- 
mon upon  the  seacoast  at  that  season  of  the  year.  It 
is  well  known  to  the  observing  mariner  that  a  storm 
from  the  southeast  never  continues  beyond  twelve  or 
fifteen  hours ;  and  when  the  violence  of  the  storm 
abates  it  is  a  common  remark  of  the  sailor  that  "  The 
northwester  is  not  long  in  debt  to  the  southeaster." 
Previous  to  this  change  of  wind,  however,  there  is  what 
is  expressively  termed  the  "  lull  of  the  storm, y  —  a 
period  when  the  rain  ceases  to  fall,  the  wind  dies  away 
to  a  perfect  calm,  the  barometer  is  suddenly  depressed, 
the  clouds  hover  almost  upon  the  face  of  the  earth, 
shutting  out  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  causing  a  cheer- 
less damp  to  settle  upon  everything  terrestrial,  and  a 
dreary  gloom  to  enshroud  the  mind  itself.     When  the 


352  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

wind  changes,  these  clouds  are  not  gradually  dissolved 
and  broken  up,  so  that  the  eye  can  catch  transient 
glimpses  of  the  blue  sky  beyond,  as  after  a  snowstorm 
in  winter ;  but  the  dark  drapery  is  suddenly  lifted  up 
as  if  by  an  unseen  hand,  and  the  western  sky,  from  the 
horizon  upward,  is  left  more  bright  and  more  charming 
than  ever  to  refresh  the  eye  and  reanimate  the  soul. 

It  was  such  a  day  as  before  remarked  when  the 
pupils  of  this  school — partly  because  of  the  darkness 
in  the  schoolroom,  and  partly  because  of  their  protracted 
confinement  within  a  close  apartment  during  a  gloomy 
afternoon  —  were  a  little  earlier  than  usual  about  to 
be  dismissed.  The  pupils  all  seemed  to  welcome  the 
happy  release  that  awaited  them,  —  and  in  their  eager- 
ness to  escape  from  confinement  they  very  naturally 
neglected  to  observe  their  accustomed  regard  for  quiet 
and  order  in  laying  aside  their  books.  It  was,  however, 
a  fixed  habit  with  the  teacher  never  to  give  the  signal 
for  leaving  the  room  till  all  the  pupils  had  taken  the 
proper  attitude  for  passing  out  with  regularity,  and  then 
had  composed  themselves  to  perfect  silence.  On  this 
occasion  perhaps  two  minutes  passed  away  while  the 
boys  were  gradually,  almost  impatiently,  bringing  them- 
selves to  a  compliance  with  this  rule  of  the  teacher. 

During  this  interval  of  waiting,  the  cloud,  unper- 
ceived  by  the  teacher,  had  been  slowly  raised  up  from 
the  western  horizon,  just  in  time  to  allow  the  setting 
sun  to  bestow  a  farewell  glance  upon  the  sorrowing 
world  at  his  leave-taking.  Through  the  Venetian 
blinds  that  guarded  the  windows  toward  the  west,  the 
celestial  light  gleamed  athwart  the  apartment,  and 
painted  the  opposite  wall  in  front  of  the  pupils  with 
streaks  of  burnished  gold !     In  an  instant  every  coun- 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  353 

tenance  was  changed.  A  smile  now  joyously  played 
where  before  sadness  and  discontent  had  held  their 
moody  reign.  The  teacher  was  reminded  by  all  these 
circumstances  of  the  beautiful  language  of  the  prophet, 
which  promised  the  gift  of  "the  garment  of  praise  for 
the  spirit  of  heaviness."  What  could  be  more  appro- 
priate on  this  occasion  than  a  song  of  praise  ?  With- 
out speaking  a  single  word,  the  teacher  commenced 
one  of  the  little  songs  already  familiar  to  the  whole 

school : 

"  Lo  the  heavens  are  breaking 
Pure  and  bright  above  ; 
Life  and  light  awaking, 
Murmur  —  God  is  love. 

God  is  love. 

"  Round  yon  pine-clad  mountain, 
Flows  a  golden  flood  ; 
Hear  the  sparkling  fountain, 
Whisper  —  God  is  good. 

God  is  good. 

"  Wake,  my  heart,  and  springing 
Spread  thy  wings  above,  — 
Soaring  still  and  singing, 
God  is  ever  good. 

God  is  good." 

Instantly  every  voice  that  had  ever  sung  now  uttered 
heartfelt  praise.  The  attendant  circumstances,  taken 
at  the  happy  moment,  furnished  such  an  impressive 
commentary  upon  the  import  of  the  words  that  they 
were  felt,  as  they  never  before  had  been  felt,  to  be  the 
words  of  precious  truth.  Every  heart  throbbed  in 
unison  with  the  sentiment.  At  the  close  of  the  song 
there  was  profound  silence  in  the  room.  After  a 
moment's  pause,   during  which   the  truth   that   God  is 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING 23 


354  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF   TEACHING 

good  seemed  to  pervade  each  mind  and  hold  it  in  silent 
reverence,  —  the  signal  for  departure  was  given.  One 
after  another  the  boys  passed  from  their  seats  with  a 
light  and  careful  step,  as  if  noise  and  haste  would  be  a 
desecration  both  of  the  time  and  place,  —  and  when  they 
reached  the  open  air,  refreshing  and  exhilarating  as  it 
was,  there  was  no  boisterous  shout,  no  rude  mirth; 
each  took  his  homeward  course,  apparently  with  a  new 
and  lively  conviction  that  God  is  good. 

It  has  always  been  a  source  of  pleasure  to  that  teacher 
to  recall  from  the  "  buried  past "  the  associations  con- 
nected with  that  delightful  hour  and  that  charming 
song ;  and  it  has  been  among  the  most  gratifying  inci- 
dents of  his  experience  as  a  teacher  to  hear  more  than 
one  of  those  pupils  in  later  life  recur  to  the  memory  of 
that  day,  and  acknowledge  with  thankfulness  the  lasting 
impressions  which  then  and  there  were  made  upon  their 
minds. 


It  would  be  easy  to  furnish  examples  to  almost  any 
extent  of  the  manner  in  which  this  principle  has  been 
or  may  be  carried  out  in  practice.  The  degradation  of 
an  intoxicated  person  who  may  pass  the  school,  —  the 
pitiable  condition  of  the  man  who  may  wander  through 
the  streets  bereft  of  his  reason,  —  any  instance  of  sudden 
death  in  the  neighborhood,  particularly  of  a  young  per- 
son, —  the  passing  of  a  funeral  procession,  —  in  short, 
any  occurrence  that  arrests  the  attention  of  the  young 
and  enlists  their  feeling,  may  be  seized  upon  as  the 
means  of  making  upon  their  minds  an  impression  for 
good.  The  facts  developed  in  many  of  their  lessons, 
too,  afford    opportunities   for  incidental  moral  instruc- 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  355 

tion.  The  adaptation  of  means  to  ends,  —  the  evidence 
of  design  and  intelligence  displayed  in  the  works  of 
creation,  —  the  existence  of  constant  and  uniform  laws 
as  developed  in  the  sciences,  all  furnish  the  means  of 
leading  the  young  mind  to  God. 

That  teacher  will  enjoy  the  richest  satisfaction  in  the 
evening  of  life,  who,  in  looking  back  upon  his  past 
experience,  shall  be  conscious  that  he  has  improved 
every  opportunity  which  God  has  given  him  to  turn  the 
youthful  affections  away  from  the  things  of  earth  to 
seek  a  worthier  object  in  things  above. 

TOPICAL  OUTLINE 

I .    Things  to  be  Avoided. 

1 .  Prejudice  against  ill-clad  or  unprepossessing  pupils. 

2.  Allowing  pupils  to  direct  their  own  studies. 

a.    The  common  evil  of  classing  pupils  too  high.     How 
caused  and  how  remedied? 

3.  Attempting  to  teach  too  many  things. 

a.  The  danger  of  overcrowding  our  school  courses. 

b.  The  special  province  of  common  schools. 

c.  The  evils  of  superficial  instruction. 

4.  Attending  to  extraneous  business  during  school  hours. 

5.  Making  excuses  to  visitors. 

a.  Franklin's  maxim. 

b.  Defects   of  character   in   the  teacher  indicated  by 

excuses.  _^ 

c.  Illustrate  the  evil,  and  its  effects  upon  pupils. 

6.  Comparing  one  child  with  another. 

a.   Effects  upon  dull  pupils  ?     Upon  bright  pupils  ? 

7.  Wounding  the  sensibilities  of  a  dull  child. 

a.   The  one  means  of  quickening  the  mind  of  a  dull 
pupil  ? 

8.  Losing  patience  with  unreasonable  parents. 

a.   The  values  of  patience  and  self-control. 

9.  Making  a  punishment  of  Bible  study. 

a.   The  effects  of  it? 


356  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

10.    Riding  hobbies. 

a.  Illustrate. 

b.  A  safe  rule  regarding  hobbies. 

c.  The  faults  and  the  uses  of  concert  recitations. 

d.  The  uses  and  the  limitations  of  oral  instruction. 

Read:  Morgan's  Educational  Mosaics,  p.  73. 
Compayre's  Psychology  applied  to  Edu- 
cation, pp.  117,  122,  124. 

II.    Things  to  be  Performed. 

1 .  Convincing  scholars  of  a  genuine  friendship  for  them. 

a.    How? 

b*  The  effects  upon  pupils  of  a  genuine  concern  about 
them. 

2.  Keeping  the  schoolhouse  and  its  appendages  in  good  order. 

a.   The  lesson  to  be  learned  and  its  value. 

3.  Administering  reproof  indirectly,  sometimes. 

a.   Case  in  illustration. 
b    Effects  of  the  plan. 

4.  Accuracy  of  scholarship. 

a.   Effect  upon  pupils  of  inaccuracies  detected  in  the 

teacher. 
0.    Effects  upon  the  teacher. 

5.  Wearing  a  pleasant  countenance. 

a.  Effects  of  scowling. 

b.  Effects  of  enforced  cheerfulness. 

c.  The  duty  of  self-control. 

d.  Its  values.     How  accomplished? 

6.  The  art  of  illustrating  aptly  and  readily. 

a.  Recite  the  capital  illustration  given. 

b.  A  common  fault  in  teachers. 

c.  Reasons  for  teaching  illustratively. 

d.  Opportunities  for  illustration. 

7.  Taking  advantage  of  unusual  occurrences  to  teach  moral 

and  religious  lessons. 

a.  Recall  the  examples  given  and  the  use  made  of 

the  opportunities. 

b.  Common  occasions  for  such  lessons. 
c»  The  futility  of  ordinary  moral  lectures. 

Read :  Morgan's  Educational  Mosaics,  p.  54. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS  357 

WRITTEN    EXERCISES 

i.   DonHs. 

1.  Don't  lose  patience  with  a  dull  child. 

2.  Don't  fail  to  keep  the  child's  fingers  busy. 

3.  Don't  expect  your  pupils  to  study  more  than  you  do. 

4.  Don't  stop  till  you  have  found  the  good  thing  in  the  bad 

child. 

5.  Don't  forget  that  the  teacher's  moral  authority  is  dependent 

upon  the  respect  and  love  of  the  children. 
[Extend  this  list.] 
2.   Suggestions. 

1 .  Commend  more  and  you  may  need  to  command  less 

2.  Throw  yourself  on  the  side  of  your  critic. 

3.  Go  to  your  classes  with  prearranged  lesson  plans. 

4.  Your  pupils  will  not  learn  to  express  themselves  until  you 

learn  how  to  suppress  yourself. 

5.  Be  interested  in  the  whole  life  of  the  community  in  which 

you  teach. 
[Extend  this  list.] 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE   REWARDS   OF   THE   TEACHER 

"  Far  above  the  conqueror  of  kingdoms,  the  destroyer  of  hosts  by 
the  sword  and  the  bayonet,  is  he  whose  tearless  victories  redden  no 
river  and  whiten  no  plain,  but  who  leads  the  understanding  a  willing 
captive,  and  builds  his  empire,  not  of  the  wrenched  and  bleeding 
fragments  of  subjugated  nations,  but  on  the  realms  of  intellect  which 
he  has  discovered,  and  planted,  and  peopled  with  beneficent  activity 
and  enduring  joy  !  "  —  Horace  Greeley. 

I.  They  do  not  lie  in  money  getting.  It  is  proverbial 
that  the  pecuniary  compensation  of  the  teacher  is,  in 
most  places,  far  below  the  proper  standard.  It  is  very 
much  to  be  regretted  that  an  employment  so  important 
in  all  its  bearings  should  be  so  poorly  rewarded.  In 
New  England  there  are  many  young  women  who,  hav- 
ing spent  some  time  in  teaching,  have  left  that  occupa- 
tion to  go  into  the  large  manufacturing  establishments 
as  laborers,  simply  because  they  could  receive  a  higher 
compensation.  I  have  known  several  instances  in 
which  young  ladies  in  humble  circumstances  have  left 
teaching  to  become  domestics,  thus  performing  the  most 
ordinary  manual  labor  because  they  could  receive  better 
pay ;  that  is,  the  farmers  and  mechanics  of  the  district 
could  afford  to  pay  more  liberally  for  washing  and  iron- 
ing, for  making  butter  and  cheese,  for  sweeping  floors 
and  cleaning  paint,  than  they  could  for  educating  the 
immortal  minds  of  their  children ! 

358 


REWARDS   OF   THE    TEACHER  359 

Nor  is  this  confined  to  the  female  sex.  Young 
mechanics  and  farmers,  as  well  as  those  employed  in 
manufacturing,  frequently  receive  higher  wages  than 
the  common-school  teacher  in  the  same  district.  Many 
a  young  man  who  has  only  genius  enough  to  drive  the 
pegs  of  a  shoe  in  a  regular  row,  and  skill  enough  to 
black  the  surface  of  the  article  when  it  is  completed, 
having  spent  but  a  few  weeks  in  learning  his  trade, 
receives  more  money  for  his  work  than  he  who,  after 
having  spent  months,  or  even  years,  in  gaining  the 
requisite  qualifications,  labors  to  polish  that  nobler 
material,  the  human  soul. 

The  injustice  of  this  becomes  more  apparent  when 
we  bear  in  mind  that  public  opinion  demands,  and 
justly  too,  that  the  teacher  should  be  not  only  gentle- 
manly in  his  manners,  but  better  clad  than  the  mere 
laborer,  —  thus  throwing  upon  him  a  greater  burden 
without  affording  him  the  means  of  sustaining  it.  The 
female  teacher  of  a  district  school,  in  order  to  be  re- 
spectable, must  be  much  more  expensively  dressed  than 
the  domestic  in  the  family  where  she  boards;  and  is 
thus  compelled  to  consume  most  of  her  receipts  upon 
her  wardrobe,  —  while  the  domestic  is  able  to  place 
surplus  money  at  interest  in  the  Savings  Bank.  This 
injustice  has  so  often  been  laid  before  the  people, 'and 
yet  has  been  so  long  continued,  that  many  have  given 
up  in  despair,  and  abandoned  an  employment  that  has 
yielded  so  little,  choosing  rather  to  engage  in  that  lower 
service  which  is  so  much  better  paid. 

This  sufficiently  explains  why  so  many  unqualified 
teachers  have  been  found  in  our  common  schools.  Men 
of  talents  and  ability  being  tempted  to  other  employ- 
ments have  left  the  field  unoccupied;  and  those  men 


360  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

who  have  failed  to  gain  a  comfortable  living  by  their 
hands  have  been  allowed  to  try  the  experiment  of 
supporting  life  by  their  wits,  —  that  is,  by  becoming 
teachers ! 

Such  has  been  the  case  for  a  long  time  past ;  and, 
though  in  many  quarters  the  people  are  beginning  to 
open  their  eyes  to  their  true  interest,  and  are  gradually 
andcommendably  coming  up  to  their  duty,  yet  for  some 
time  to  come  the  pecuniary  compensation  will  not  con- 
stitute the  chief  reward  of  the  teacher.  If  he  will  go 
cheerfully  to  his  work,  and  find  his  daily  enjoyment  in 
his  daily  toil,  he  must  have  a  higher  object,  some  more 
elevating,  inspiring  motive,  than  mere  money  getting. 
The  chief  encouragements  of  the  faithful  teacher  lie  in 
another  direction. 

It  is  the  objects  of  the  following  paragraphs  to  point 
out  some  of  these  encouragements ;  for,  having  in  the 
preceding  pages  required  very  much  at  his  hands,  I  feel 
that  it  is  but  just  that  he  should  be  invited  to  look  at 
the  brighter  side  of  the  picture,  so  that  when  he  is  ready 
to  sink  under  the  responsibilities  of  his  position,  or  to 
yield  to  the  obstacles  that  oppose  his  progress,  he  may 
have  something  to  animate  his  soul  and  to  nerve  him 
anew  for  the  noble  conflict. 

II.  The  teacher's  employment  affords  the  means  of  in- 
tellectual growth.  If  a  man  teaches  as  he  should  teach, 
he  must  of  necessity  improve  himself.  Teaching,  un- 
derstandingly  pursued,  gives  accuracy.  I  know  it  is 
possible  for  a  man  to  be  a  mere  schoolmaster  —  a  peda- 
gogue, without  any  self-improvement.  But  I  am  speak- 
ing of  the  faithful,  devoted  teacher,  —  the  man  who 
studies,  reflects,  invents.  Such  a  man  learns  more  than 
his  pupils.     Every  time  he  takes  a  class  through  any 


REWARDS   OF  THE    TEACHER  36 1 

branch  of  study,  he  does  it  more  skillfully,  more  thor- 
oughly than  before.  He  brings  some  fresh  illustration 
of  it,  presents  some  new  view  of  it,  and  hence  takes  a 
lively  interest  in  it  himself,  and  awakens  a  new  zeal 
among  his  pupils.  Measuring  himself  by  his  new  suc- 
cess, he  feels  a  consciousness  of  growth,  of  progress. 
This  consciousness  is  a  precious  reward. 

III.  The  teacher's  employment  affords  the  means  of 
moral  groivth.  Brought  constantly  in  contact  with 
those  who  need  a  careful  guidance,  he  feels  impelled  to 
earnest  effort  in  order  to  obtain  the  mastery  over  him- 
self as  the  best  means  of  gaining  complete  influence 
over  others.  Studying  the  weak  points  in  their  char- 
acter, he  is  constantly  reminded  of  those  in  his  own  ; 
and  self-knowledge  is  the  first  step  toward  self-improve- 
ment. Beginning  in  the  feebleness  of  inexperience,  he 
bolsters  up  his  authority  at  first  by  a  frequent  resort  to 
force;  but  as  he  goes  on  he  finds  himself  gradually 
gaining  such  ascendency  over  the  vicious  as  to  control 
them  quite  as  effectually  by  milder  means.  At  first, 
easily  excited  to  anger  or  impatience,  he  frequently  in- 
dulged in  severe  language  when  it  was  unnecessary,  — 
but  by  careful  discipline  he  has  learned  to  "  set  a  watch 
before  his  mouth  and  to  keep  the  door  of  his  lips." 
Encouraged  by  one  victory  over  himself  he  is  prepared 
for  another.  Having  learned  by  self-discipline  to  con- 
trol his  outward  acts,  he  next  attempts  the  mastery  of 
his  thoughts.  He  soon  finds  that  his  moral  power  over 
others  is  very  much  increased.  Somehow  —  though 
perhaps  he  cannot  yet  tell  the  reason  why — he  finds  he 
can  secure  obedience  with  half  the  effort  formerly  re- 
quired,—  he  gains  the  love  of  his  pupils  more  readily, 
—  and  with  the  exception  now  and  then  of  an  extreme 


362  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

case,  he  finds  that  he  excites  a  deeper  interest  than  ever 
before  in  the  whole  round  of  duty  among  the  scholars. 
Why  is  this  ?  he  asks,  —  and  the  consciousness  of  in- 
creased moral  power  rising  up  within  him  is  a  source  of 
the  highest  satisfaction.  .Pecuniary  emolument  sinks 
into  nothing  considered  as  a  reward  when  compared 
with  a  conscious  victory  over  himself. 

IV.  A  consciousness  of  improvement  in  the  art  of  teach- 
ing is  another  reward.  Such  improvement  will  follow 
as  a  matter  of  course  from  his  self-improvement  in  the 
particulars  just  named.  As  his  own  mind  expands  he 
feels  a  new  impulse  to  exert  himself  to  interest  others  in 
the  subjects  he  teaches.  He  soon  comes  to  look  upon 
the  work  of  instruction,  not  as  a  mere  mechanical  busi- 
ness to  be  done  in  a  formal  way,  but  as  a  noble  art  based 
upon  certain  great  principles  that  are  capable  of  being 
understood  and  applied.  He  employs  all  his  ingenuity 
to  discover  the  natural  order  of  presenting  truth  to 
the  mind,  —  to  ascertain  the  precise  degree  of  aid  the 
learner  needs,  and  the  point  where  the  teacher  should 
stop.  He  studies  carefully  the  proper  motives  to  be 
presented  as  incentives  to  exertion.  Interested  in  his 
labor  as  a  great  work,  looking  upon  his  influence  as 
telling  upon  all  future  time,  he  devotes  himself  daily 
with  new  zeal,  and  is  rewarded  with  the  consciousness  of 
new  success. 

V.  The  teacher  is  permitted  also  to  witness  the  constant 
growth  of  mind  among  his  pupils.  I  say  constant^  be- 
cause the  teacher  is  not  obliged  to  labor  without  seeing 
immediate  results.  The  minister  of  religion  may  some- 
times sow  the  seed  of  the  good  word,  while  the  fruit 
does  not  appear  for  a  long  season.  Sometimes  a  spirit- 
ual apathy  prevails,  so  that  the  most  faithful  warnings 


REWARDS   OF  THE    TEACHER  363 

and  the  most  earnest  appeals  seem  to  fall  powerless 
upon  the  conscience ;  and  he  is  led  almost  to  despair  of 
ever  being  able  to  break  the  deathlike  slumber.  It  is 
not  thus  with  the  teacher.  His  labor  tells  immediately 
upon  the  young  mind.  Even  while  he  is  yet  speaking 
he  is  gratified  with  observing  the  soul's  expansion  as  it 
grasps  and  assimilates  some  new  idea  which  he  pre- 
sents. From  day  to  day,  as  he  meets  his  classes,  he 
sees  how  they  go  on  from  strength  to  strength,  —  at  first, 
indeed,  with  the  halting,  tottering  step  of  the  feeble 
babe,  but  soon  with  the  firm  and  confident  tread  of  the 
vigorous  youth. 

A  teacher  who  is  for  several  years  employed  in  his 
vocation  is  often  astonished  at  the  rapidity  with  which 
the  young,  who  come  to  him  as  mere  children,  grow 
into  men  and  women,  and  take  their  places  on  the  stage 
of  life  as  prominent  actors.  Some  of  them  distinguish 
themselves  in  the  arts;  some  become  noted  for  their 
attainments  in  science ;  some  receive  the  honors  of 
office  and  become  leaders  in  civil  affairs ;  some  gain 
eminence  as  professional  men ;  and  very  likely  a  large 
portion  of  them  are  engaged  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  honorable  industry.  Wherever  they  are,  and 
whatever  they  are,  they  are  now  exerting  a  powerful 
influence  in  the  community.  They  have  grown  up 
under  his  eye,  and  have  been  essentially  shaped  by 
his  plastic  hand.  He  looks  upon  them  almost  with 
the  interest  and  pride  of  a  father.  He  counts  them  as 
his  jewels ;  and  when  he  hears  of  their  success,  their 
usefulness,  and  their  honors,  his  heart  leaps  within  him, 
as  he  thinks,  "They  were  my  ptipils"  Even  though  he 
may  have  wasted  the  strength  of  his  best  days  in  the 
service,  what  a  reward  is  this  for  the  teacher! 


364    ,      THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

VI.  The  teacher  is  engaged  in  a  useful  and  honorable 
calling.  What  though  he  may  not  become  rich  in  this 
world's  goods?  Who  would  not  prefer  above  houses 
and  lands,  —  infinitely  above  all  the  wealth  of  earth,  the 
consciousness  of  being  engaged  in  a  work  of  usefulness  ? 
Man  was  made  for  usefulness,  —  and  who  would  not 
desire  to  answer  the  design  of  his  creation  ? 

My  pen  is  too  feeble  to  attempt  to  portray  the 
usefulness  of  the  faithful  teacher.  He  educates  the 
immortal  mind,  —  wakes  it  to  thought,  —  trains  it  to 
discipline  —  self-discipline,  —  moves  it  to  truth  and  vir- 
tue, —  fills  it  with  longings  for  a  more  perfect  state, 
and  sends  it  forth  to  exert  its  power  for  good  through 
all  coming  time!  "To  this  end,"  in  the  glowing  lan- 
guage of  Professor  Agnew,  "  he  communicates  a  knowl- 
edge of  letters,  opens  out  gradually  before  the  child  the 
book  of  nature  and  the  literature  of  the  world ;  he  dis- 
ciplines his  mind  and  teaches  him  how  to  gather  knowl- 
edge from  every  source ;  he  endeavors  to  impart  quick- 
ness and  retentiveness  of  memory,  to  cultivate  a  refined 
and  well-regulated  imagination,  to  task  and  thus  to  give 
vigor  to  his  reasoning  powers.  He  points  out  the  ap- 
propriate objects  of  the  several  affections,  and  the 
proper  exercise  of  the  passions ;  he  gives  lessons  to 
conscience  derived  from  the  pure  fountain  of  God's 
own  revelation,  and  teaches  him  to  subject  his  own 
will  to  the  Highest  Will.  He  instructs  him  in  the 
various  sciences  and  thus  displays  before  him  worlds 
of  wondrous  interest,  and  invests  him  with  the  sources 
and  means  of  pure  enjoyment.  He  trains  him  for  the 
sweet  sympathies  of  social  life;  and  unfolds  before 
him  the  high  behests  of  duty  —  duty  to  himself,  his 
fellow-creatures,  his  family,  his  God. 


REWARDS   OF   THE    TEACHER  365 

"Under  such  a  tuition  behold  the  helpless  infant 
grown  to  manhood's  prime,  —  a  body  well  developed, 
strong,  and  active;  a  mind  symmetrically  unfolded, 
and  powers  of  intellection  closely  allied  to  those  of 
the  spirits  in  celestial  spheres.  He  becomes  a  hus- 
band and  a  father;  in  these  and  in  all  the  relations 
of  life  he  performs  well  his  part.  Above  all,  he  is 
a  Christian,  with  well-trained  affections  and  a  tender 
conscience,  supremely  loving  God,  maintaining  a  con- 
stant warfare  with  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil, 
—  growing  up  into  the  stature  of  a  perfect  man  in 
Christ,  and  anticipating  the  fullness  of  joy  and  pleas- 
ure for  evermore  which  are  at  God's  right  hand.  The 
time  of  his  departure  at  length  arrives ;  he  has  fought 
the  good  fight,  he  has  finished  his  course,  and  he  goes 
to  obtain  his  crown  and  to  attune  his  harp,  and  forever 
to  dwell  on  the  hills  of  light  and  love,  where  angels 
gather  immortality.  Oh,  what  a  transit;  from  the  de- 
pendent helplessness  of  infancy  to  the  glory  of  a  seraph ; 
from  mind  scarcely  manifested,  to  mind  ranging  over 
the  immensity  of  Jehovah's  empire,  and  rising  in  the 
loftiest  exercises  of  reason  and  affection !  And  how 
much  has  the  faithful  teacher  had  to  do  in  fitting  him 
for  the  blissful  mansions  of  the  skies  !  " 

If  such  be  the  teacher's  work,  where  is  the  limit  to 
his  usefulness  ?  Yet  he  may  do  this  not  for  one  merely, 
but  for  scores,  or  even  hundreds.  Eternity  alone  can 
display  the  immeasurable,  inconceivable  usefulness  of 
one  devoted  teacher. 

And  is  not  the  teacher's  calling  honorable?  It  is, — 
for  its  usefulness  makes  it  honorable.  To  scatter  the 
light  of  truth  is  always  honorable.  So  some  of  the 
greatest  and   best  men  the  world   ever  saw  have   be- 


366  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

lieved,  and  have  illustrated  their  faith  by  their  prac- 
tice. Confucius,  Socrates,  Seneca,  Aristotle,  and  Plato 
were  specimens  of  the  teachers  of  ancient  date.  Roger 
Ascham,  John  Milton,  Francke,  Pestalozzi,  Arnold,  and 
a  host  of  others,  have  adorned  the  profession  in  later 
times.  Yet  these  are  men  who  have  taught  the  world 
to  think.  Their  works  live  after  them,  —  and  will  con- 
tinue to  live,  when  the  proud  fame  of  the  mighty  war- 
riors who  have  marked  their  course  in  blood  shall  have 
perished  from  the  earth. 

If  it  were  necessary  and  not  invidious,  how  many 
distinguished  men  in  our  own  country  could  be  men- 
tioned who  have  been  teachers  of  the  young,  or  who 
are  still  engaged  as  such.  Besides  those  who  have 
made  teaching  the  business  of  their  lives,  how  many 
have  been  temporarily  employed  in  this  calling.  Some 
of  our  presidents,  many  of  our  governors,  most  of  our 
jurists  and  divines,  — indeed,  some  of  every  profession, 
"and  of  the  chief  women  not  a  few"  —  have  first  dis- 
tinguished themselves  as  school-teachers.  Well  may 
teachers,  then,  regard  their  profession  as  an  honorable 
one ;  always  remembering,  however,  that  "  It  is  not  the 
position  which  makes  the  man  honorable,  but  the  man 
the  position/ ' 

VII.  The  teacher  enjoys  the  grateful  remembrance  of 
his  pupils  and  of  their  friends.  When  a  distinguished 
writer  said,  "God  be  thanked  for  the  gift  of  mothers 
and  schoolmasters,"  he  expressed  but  the  common  sen- 
timent of  the  human  heart.  The  name  of  parent  justly 
enkindles  the  warmest  emotions  in  the  heart  of  him 
who  has  gone  out  from  his  native  home  to  engage 
in  the  busy  scenes  of  the  workday  world ;  and  when 
sometimes  he  retires  from  the  companionship  of  new- 


REWARDS   OF  THE    TEACHER  367 

made  friends  to  recall  the  picture  of  the  past  and  the 
loved  of  other  days,  —  to  think 

"  Of  childish  joys,  when  bounding  boyhood  knew 
No  grief,  but  chased  the  gorgeous  butterfly 
And  gamboPd  with  the  breeze,  that  tossed  about 
His  silken  curls  —  " 

how  sweetly  do  the  gentle  influences  of  home  and  child- 
hood, with  all  their  tender  and  hallowed  associations, 
come  stealing  over  the  soul !  The  world  is  forgotten  ; 
care  may  not  intrude  upon  this  sacred  hour;  objects  of 
sense  are  unheeded  ;  the  call  to  pleasure  is  disregarded ; 
—  while  the  rapt  soul,  introverted  —  transported  —  dwells 
with  unspeakable  delight  upon  its  consecrated  recollec- 
tion of  all  that  is  venerable,  all  that  is  sacred  in  the 
name  of  parent.  At  this  favored  hour,  how  the  heart 
swells  at  the  thought  of  a  mother's  love !  The  smiles, 
the  kind  words,  the  sympathy,  the  counsels,  the  prayers, 
the  tears,  —  how  fondly  the  memory  treasures  them  all 
up,  and  claims  them  for  its  own  !  And  though  Death  may 
have  long  since  intruded,  and  consigned  that  gentle  form 
to  the  cold  earth,  rudely  sundering  the  cherished  bonds 
of  affection,  and  leaving  the  hearthstone  desolate, — 
though  change  may  have  brought  strangers  to  fell  the 
favorite  tree,  to  remove  the  ancient  landmarks,  tojlay 
waste  the  pleasant  places,  and  even  to  tread  thought- 
lessly by  the  humble  mound  that  marks  the  revered 
spot  where  "  departed  worth  is  laid,"  —  though  Time, 
"  with  his  effacing  fingers,"  may  have  been  busy  in  ob- 
literating the  impressions  of  childhood  from  the  mind, 
or  in  burying  them  deeply  beneath  the  rubbish  of  per- 
plexing cares,  —  still  the  true  heart  never  tires  with  the 
thought  of  a  fond  parent,  nor  ever  ceases  to  "thank 


368  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

God  upon  every  remembrance "  of  a  pious,  devoted 
mother  ! 

Thus  it  should  ever  be.  Nothing  on  earth  should  be 
allowed  to  claim  the  gratitude  which  is  justly  due  to 
judicious  parents.  But  the  faithful,  devoted  teacher, 
the  former  of  youthful  character  and  the  guide  of 
youthful  study,  will  be  sure  to  have  the  next  place  in 
the  grateful  heart.  Whether  the  young  man  treads 
the  deck  of  the  noble  ship  in  his  lonely  watch  as  she 
proudly  walks  the  waters  by  night, — or  journeys  among 
strangers  in  foreign  lands  ;  —  wherever  he  goes,  or  how- 
ever employed,  —  as  often  as  his  thoughts  revisit  the 
scenes  of  his  childhood,  and  dwell  with  interest  upon 
the  events  that  marked  his  youthful  progress,  he  will 
recur  to  the  old  familiar  schoolhouse,  call  up  its  well- 
remembered  incidents  —  its  joys  and  its  sorrows  —  its 
trials  and  its  triumphs — its  all-pervading  and  ever-abid- 
ing influences,  and  devoutly  thank  God  for  the  gift  of  a 
faithful,  self-denying,  patient  teacher. 

But  the  teacher  is  rewarded  also  by  the  gratitude  of 
parents  and  friends.  Some  of  the  sweetest  moments  a 
teacher  ever  experiences  are  those  when  a  parent  takes 
him  by  the  hand,  and  with  cordial  sincerity  and  deep 
emotion  thanks  him  for  what  he  has  done  for  his  child. 
It  may  have  been  a  wayward,  thoughtless,  perhaps  a 
vicious  boy,  whom  kind  words  and  a  warm  heart  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher  have  won  back  to  the  path  of  recti- 
tude and  virtue. 

I  have  seen  an  old  lady  —  and  I  shall  never  forget  the 
sight  —  bending  under  the  infirmities  of  age,  —  blind, 
and  yet  dependent  mainly  upon  her  labor  for  support, 
invoking  the  richest  of  heaven's  blessings  upon  the  head 
of  a  teacher  who,  by  kindness  and  perseverance,  had 


REWARDS   OF  THE    TEACHER  369 

won  back  her  wayward  grandson  to  obedience  and  duty. 
How  her  full  soul  labored  as  she  described  the  change 
that  had  taken  place!  Her  emotion  —  too  deep  for 
utterance  in  words  —  found  expression  only  in  tears 
that  streamed  from  her  sightless  eyes!  She  felt  that 
her  boy  was  again  a  child  of  hope  and  promise,  and 
that  he  might  yet  be  a  virtuous  and  a  useful  man.  The 
world  may  raise  its  empty  acclamation  to  honor  the 
man  of  power  and  of  fame,  —  it  may  applaud  the  states- 
man and  weave  the  chaplet  for  the  conqueror's  brow ; 
—  but  the  teacher,  humble  and  obscure  though  he  may 
be,  who  is  the  object  of  the  widow's  gratitude  for  being 
the  orphan's  friend,  with  the  consciousness  of  deserving 
it,  is  a  happier,  I  had  almost  said  a  greater  man.  Surely 
he  receives  a  greater  reward. 

VIII.  The  faithful  teacher  enjoys  the  approval  of 
Heaven.  He  is  employed,  if  he  has  a  right  spirit,  in  a 
heavenly  mission.  He  is  doing  his  Heavenly  Father's 
business.  That  man  should  be  made  wiser  and  happier, 
is  the  will  of  Heaven.  To  this  end,  the  Son  of  God  — 
The  Great  Teacher  —  came  to  bless  our  race.  So  far  as 
the  schoolmaster  has  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  he  is  engaged 
in  the  same  great  work.  Heaven  regards  with  com- 
placency the  humble  efforts  of  the  faithful  teacher  to 
raise  his  fellow-beings  from  the  darkness  of  ignorance 
and  the  slavery  of  superstition  ;  and  if  a  more  glorious 
crown  is  held  in  reserve  for  one  rather  than  another,  it 
is  for  him  who,  uncheered  by  worldly  applause,  and 
without  the  prospect  of  adequate  reward  from  his  fellow- 
men,  cheerfully  practices  the  self-denial  of  his  master, 
spending  his  strength,  and  doing  with  diligence  and 
patience  "  whatsoever  his  hand  findeth  to  do,"  toward 
raising  his  fellow-beings  to  happiness  and  heaven. 

B.-P.  THE.  &  PR.  TEACHING  —  24 


370  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE   OF  TEACHING 

It  is  such  a  teacher  that  the  eloquent  and  gifted 
Lord  Brougham  describes  in  the  following  beautiful 
language : 

"  He  meditates  and  prepares,  in  secret,  the  plans 
which  are  to  bless  mankind ;  he  slowly  gathers  around 
him  those  who  are  to  further  their  execution,  —  he 
quietly,  though  firmly,  advances  in  his  humble  path, 
laboring  steadily,  but  calmly,  till  he  has  opened  to  the 
light  all  the  recesses  of  ignorance,  and  torn  up  by  the 
roots  the  weeds  of  vice.  His  progress  is  not  to  be 
compared  with  anything  like  the  march  of  the  con- 
queror, —  but  it  leads  to  a  far  more  brilliant  triumph, 
and  to  laurels  more  imperishable  than  the  destroyer  of 
his  species,  the  scourge  of  the  world,  ever  won.  Each 
one  of  these  great  teachers  of  the  world,  possessing  his 
soul  in  peace,  performs  his  appointed  course,  awaits  in 
patience  the  fulfillment  of  the  promises,  and,  resting 
from  his  labors,  bequeaths  his  memory  to  the  genera- 
tion whom  his  works  have  blessed,  and  sleeps  under 
the  humble,  but  not  inglorious  epitaph,  commemorating 
\  one  in  whom  mankind  lost  a  friend,  and  no  man  got  rid 
of  an  enemy'  " 

In  view  of  what  has  been  said,  let  the  teacher  cease 
to  repine  at  his  hard  lot.  Let  him  cast  an  occasional 
glance  at  the  bright  prospect  before  him.  He  deserves, 
to  be  sure,  a  higher  pecuniary  reward  than  he  receives ; 
and  he  should  never  cease  to  press  this  truth  upon  the 
community,  till  talent  in  teaching  is  as  well  compen- 
sated as  talent  in  any  other  calling.  But  whether  he 
gains  this  or  not,  let  him  dwell  upon  the  privileges  and 
rewards  to  be  found  in  the  calling  itself,  and  take  fresh 
encouragement. 


REWARDS   OF    THE    TEACHER  37 1 

The  apostle  Paul  exhibited  great  wisdom  when  he 
said,  "I  magnify  mine  office."  If  the  foregoing  views 
respecting  the  importance  of  the  teacher's  calling  are 
correct,  he  may  safely  follow  the  apostle's  example. 
This  is  not,  however,  to  be  done  merely  by  boastful 
words.  No  man  can  elevate  himself,  or  magnify  his 
office  in  public  estimation  by  indulging  in  empty  decla- 
mation, or  by  passing  inflated  resolutions.  He  must 
feel  the  dignity  of  his  profession,  and  show  that  he 
feels  it  by  unremitted  exertions  to  attain  to  the  highest 
excellence  of  which  he  is  capable,  —  animated,  in  the 
midst  of  his  toil,  chiefly  by  the  great  moral  recompense 
which  every  faithful  teacher  may  hope  to  receive. 
*  Let  every  teacher,  then,  study  to  improve  himself 
intellectually  and  morally;  let  him  strive  to  advance  in 
the  art  of  teaching;  let  him  watch  the  growth  of  mind 
under  his  culture  and  take  the  encouragement  which 
that  affords ;  let  him  consider  the  usefulness  he  may 
effect  and  the  circumstances  which  make  his  calling 
honorable ;  let  him  prize  the  gratitude  of  his  pupils  and 
of  their  parents  and  friends;  and  above  all,  let  him 
value  the  approval  of  Heaven,  and  set  a  proper  estimate 
upon  the  rewards  which  another  world  will  unfold  to 
him,  —  and  thus  be  encouraged  to  toil  on  in  faithfulness 
and  in  hope, — till,  having  finished  his  course,  andtieing 
gathered  to  the  home  of  the  righteous,  he  shall  meet 
multitudes,  instructed  by  his  wise  precept,  and  profited 
by  his  pure  example,  who  "shall  rise  up  and  call  him 
blessed." 


372  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE    OF  TEACHING 

TOPICAL   OUTLINE 

I .    They  do  not  lie  in  Money  Getting. 

i .    The  teacher's  salary  is  relatively  low. 
a.    Comparisons  in  illustration. 

Proceedings  National  Educational  Association  fot 
1885,  pp.  138-150. 
2.    The  effects  of  poor  salaries  upon  the  profession. 
II.   Rewards. 

1.  Consciousness  of  intellectual  growth. 

a.    Conditions  of  intellectual  growth? 

2.  Consciousness  of  moral  growth. 

a.    Indications  of  moral  growth? 

3.  Consciousness  of  increasing  efficiency. 

a.   Conditions  of  increasing  skill  ? 

4.  Consciousness  of  having  a  useful  and  honorable  calling. 

a.   Ways  in  which  it  is  useful  and  honorable  ? 

5.  The  gratitude  of  pupils  and  their  friends. 

a.   The  faithful  teacher's  place  in  the  pupil's  memory? 
6.    The  gratitude  of  parents. 

6.  The  approval  of  Heaven. 

a.  The  teacher's  work.     Lord  Brougham. 

b.  How  the  teacher  can  magnify  his  office. 

Read  :   Morgan's  Educational  Mosaics : 
The  Teacher's  Monument,  p.  94. 
A  Lofty  Aim,  p.  126. 
A  Work  for  Eternity,  p.  186. 
A  Bit  of  Advice,  p.  242. 
The  Teacher's  Responsibility,  p.  242. 
Morgan's  Studies  in  Pedagogy : 
The  Teacher's  Calling,  p.  313. 
The  Teacher's  Growth,  p.  334. 
A  Professional  Spirit,  p.  341. 
Character  Building,  p.  343. 


INDEX 


Abbott,  quoted,  184. 
Abbott's  "Teacher,"  306. 
Accuracy,    a    requisite   in   teachers, 
338. 

in  recitations,  149. 
Acquisition,  pleasure  of,  176. 
Adaptation,  241,  317,  355. 
Addison,  quoted,  96. 
Advancement,  desire  for,  174. 
Agnew,  Professor,  quoted,  364. 
Agriculture,  chemistry  improves,  86. 
Aid,  mutual,  309-317. 
Air,  286,  287,  290. 
Algebra,  teacher's  mastery  of,  85. 
Alphabet,  80. 

Alternation  of  studies,  258. 
Ambition,  evils  of,  159. 
Anderson,  M.  B.,  quoted,  107. 
Anger,  to  be  avoided,  27,  183,  235. 
Animation,  need  of,  145. 
Approbation,  love  of,  173,  188. 
Aptitude,  need  of,  30,  32. 
Aptness  to  teach,  no,  138. 
Aristocracy,  188,  251,  321,  322. 
Aristotle,  a  teacher,  366. 
Arithmetic,  mental,  46. 

reviews  in,  268. 

teacher's  mastery  of,  S^f  84. 

written,  48. 
Arnold,  Matthew,  a  teacher,  366. 
Arrangements  of  schools,  247-276. 
Artificial  excitement,  155. 
Artificial  stimulants,  178. 
Ascham,  Roger,  a  teacher,  366. 
Assistance    to    child,  right   amount, 
in,  118. 


Astronomy,  value  to  teacher,  91. 
Attainments,  22,  78,  79,  91,  303. 
Attention,  122,  128,  131,  138,   139, 

*43.  I45>  33*- 
Attitude  of  teacher,  145. 
Auburn  State  Prison,  58-62. 
Authority,  183,  184,  214,  229,  230. 


B 


Babel,  in  classes,  263. 
Baby  talk,  scientific,  331. 
Bacon,  Lord,  quoted,  40,  299. 
Barnard,  H.,  "  Connecticut  Common 
School  Journal,'   307. 

"  Journal  of  R.  I.  Institute,"  307. 
Bible,  improper  use  of,  213,  329. 

study  of,  55,  56. 
Bigotry,  to  be  avoided,  85. 
Biographical  sketch,  of  Page,  1 1-20. 
Blackguardism,  evil  of,  212. 
Black  marks,  201. 
Bond,  G.  C,  quoted,  77. 
Bookkeeping,  need  of,  88. 
Books,  as  instruments  of  study,  49. 

care  of,  335. 
Bronchitis,  one  cause  of,  296. 
Brougham,  Lord,  quoted,  370. 

teachings  of,  99. 

works  on  education,  307. 


Caprice,  to  be  avoided,  28. 
Carlyle,  quoted,  78,  106,  341. 
Carrying,  in  subtraction,  147. 
"Celebrations,"  271. 


373 


374 


INDEX 


Character,  67,  74,  98,  103,  172,  174, 

320,  321,  335. 
Cheerfulness,  294,  295,  339,  340. 
Chemistry,  teacher's  mastery  of,  86. 
Child,  capacity  of,  28,  100,  175,  176. 

choice  of  studies,  322-324. 

conscience  in,  175. 

danger    of  misguidance,    23,   98, 
in,  248,  328. 

deformity  of,  185. 

emulation  in,  159. 

health  of,  46,  101. 

home  of,  225. 

imitation  of,  145. 

intellectual    development    of,  46, 
101,  363. 

moral   training   of,  51,    100,    176, 
226,  364. 

neglect  of,  43. 

obedience  of,  177,  338. 

qualities  in,  188,  327. 
Christian  spirit,  to  be  inculcated,  55. 
Chronology,  table  of,  20. 
Civil  government,  need  of,  89. 
Classification,  254,  256,  259. 
"  Colburn's  Intellectual  Arith.,',  47. 

Page's  experience  with,  83. 
Cold  feet,  danger  of,  293. 
Collateral  study,  50,  91,  307. 
Comenius,  familiarity  with,  34. 

quoted,  106,  107. 
Commonplace  book,  143,  308. 
Common  sense,  need  of,  333. 
Comparison  of  pupils  unwise,  327. 
Composition,  study  of,  48. 
Composure,  need  of,  28. 
Concert  recitation,  330. 
Conducting  recitations,  138-154. 
Confinement,  as  a  punishment,  221. 

solitary,  231. 
Confucius,  a  teacher,  366. 
Conscience,  52,  100,   172,  189,  218, 
241. 

activity  in  childhood,  175. 

law  of,  196. 


Conscience,  reward  of,  172. 

should  be  sensitive,  29. 
Constraint,  evil  of,  206. 
Cooper's  "  Teacher's  Advocate,"  307. 
Corn,  an  object  lesson,  122-126. 
Corporal  punishment,  223-235. 

Horace    Mann    on    necessity  of, 
225-228. 

its  abolition  an  ideal,  229. 

limitations,  235-238. 
Countenance,  pleasing,  339. 
Courage,  need  of,  29. 
Course  of  study,  307. 
Courtesy,  value  of,  70. 
Cousin,  teachings  of,  99. 

works  on  education,  307. 
Cramming,  evils  of,  50. 
Credits,  registers  of,  201. 
Crime,  cause  of,  60. 
Cruelty  in  punishments,  213,  214. 
Culture,  need  of,  26. 
Curiosity,  a  good  stimulant  to  acqui- 
sition, 179. 

D 

Davis's  "  Teacher  Taught,"  307. 
Decision  in  teacher,  189. 
Defining,  a  primary  study,  46. 
Delay  of  reproof,  337. 
De    Sacy's    "  General     Grammar " 

recommended,  84. 
Description,  practice  in,  481. 
Desks,  neatness  of,  336. 
Development,  99,  365. 
Diet 'of  teacher,  286-297. 
Direction  of  pupils'  study,  322,  323. 
Disciplinary  punishment,  238. 
Discontent,  a  wrong,  339. 
Don'ts,  357. 
Drawing,  90,  257. 
Drawing-out  process,  114-118. 
Dress,  69,  286,  293,  320,  321. 
Drink,  water,  293. 
Driving,  a  good  exercise,  289. 


INDEX 


375 


Dullness,  327. 

Duties,  of  a  day,  254. 

Dwi'ght,  F.,  "District  School  Jour- 
nal," 307. 
teachings  of,  99. 

Dwight,  T., "  Schoolmaster's  Friend," 
307- 


Education,  conception  of,  95,  103. 

defined, 99. 

history  of,  26. 

importance  of,  106. 

liberal,  103. 

means  of,  105. 

nature  of,  103. 

necessity  for,  44. 

not  merely  knowledge,  100. 

phases  of,  33,  101. 

professional,  30,  91,  96,  97,  301, 
306. 

quotations  on,  103-108. 

right  views  of,  95-110. 

warning,  107. 

works  on,  306. 
Emerson,  G.  B.,  teachings  of,  99. 
Emerson,   R.    W.,   quoted,   67,  97, 

105,  285,  320. 
Emolument,  teacher's,  299-303,  358. 
Employment,  value  of,  194. 
Emulation,  156-162,  174. 
Equality,  in  government,  187. 
Essays,  subjects  for,  25, 109, 137, 181, 

246,  276,  284,  297. 
Essex  County  Teachers'  Association 

(Mass.),  315. 
Evasions  to  be  avoided,  143. 
Examinations,  public,  269-273. 
Example  of  teacher,  52,  53,  304. 
Exciting  interest  in  study,  15  5-1 81. 
Exclusiveness  in  knowledge,  310. 
Excuses  for  defects  in  school,  325. 
Exercise,  best  conditions  of,  289. 

of  teacher,  286-297. 

time  for,  287. 


Exhibitions,  271. 
Expedients,  345. 
Experience,  need  of,  36. 
Explanations,  to  be  intelligible,  147. 
Expulsion,  as  a  punishment,  233. 
Extraneous  business,  in  school  hours, 

324- 
Extraordinary  proceedings,  316. 
Eyes,  use  of,  332. 


Farming,  a  good  exercise,  288. 
Fat,  injurious  as  food,  292. 
Fear,  appeal  to,  206,  208. 
Fitness,  to  teach,  26-39. 
Food,  proper,  286. 
Force,  appeal  to,  206. 
Fox,  quoted,  101. 
Francke,  a  teacher,  366. 
Frankness,   of  teachers  to  parents, 

281. 
Froebel,  familiarity  with,  34. 


Gardening,  a  good  exercise,  288. 
Gascoigne,  quoted,  107. 
General  exercises,  121. 
General  knowledge,  needed,  91. 
Gentlemanly  manners,  282. 
Geography,  as  a  primary  study,  47. 

teacher's  mastery  of,  82. 
Geology,  value  to  teacher,  91.  — ^ 
Geometry,  teacher's  mastery  of,  85. 
Gilman,  quoted,  299. 
Gospel,  admonitions  of,  277. 
Government,  school,  182-246. 

a  means,  not  end,  202. 

equality  in,  187. 

just  views  of,  186. 

requisites  for,  182-191. 

uniformity  in,  187. 
Grammar,  an  advanced  study,  48. 

teacher's  mastery  of,  84. 


376 


INDEX 


Gratitude   of   parents   and    friends, 

368. 
Great  Teacher,  The,  369. 
Greek,  value  of  study,  82. 
Greeley,  Horace,  quoted,  358. 

H 

Habits,  of  fortitude,  75. 

of  order,  76. 

of  prudence,  75. 

of  study,  74,  267. 

of  teacher,  67-77. 

significant  thoughts  about,  76. 
Hall,  G.  S.,  quoted,  76. 
Hall,  Robert,  quoted,  76. 
Hall,  S.  R.,  quoted,  147. 
Hall's  "  Lectures  on   School  Keep- 
ing," 307. 
Hamilton,  Wm.,  quoted,  106,  no. 
Harris,  Dr.  W.  T.,  familiarity  with, 

34- 

quoted,  104. 
Health,  bodily,  45. 

teacher's  care  of,  285-298. 
Heaven's  approval  of  teacher,  368. 
Helps,  quoted,  105. 
Higher  branches,  333. 
Hill,  Thos.,  quoted,  104. 
Hissing,  217. 
History,  study  of,  47. 

teacher's  mastery  of,  82. 
Hitchcock,  anecdote  about,  287. 
Hobbies,  to   be  avoided,   134,  329, 

330. 
"  Holding  a  nail,"  215. 
Honesty,  57,  271,  281,  315,  338. 
Honor  of  teacher's  calling,  365. 
Horseback     riding    good     exercise, 

288. 
Humiliation,  caution  regarding,  221. 
Huntingdon,  F.  D.,  quoted,  104. 
Huxley,  T.  H.,  quoted,  103. 
Hypocrisy,  221,  227,  270,  271,  272, 

281,  315,  316,  335. 


Ideal  school,  242. 
Illustration,  art  of,  342. 
Imitation  in  children,  145. 

not  to  be  servile,  316. 
Impartiality  in  government,  188. 
Impression,  first,  192. 
Inattention,  habit  of,  145. 
Incentives  to  study,  156-180. 
Indefinite  expressions,  282. 
Inductions,  239. 
Injustice,  188,  320,  359. 
Inquiry,  about  schools,  280. 
Insight,  need  of,  27. 
Institutes,  Teachers',  312. 
Intellectual    growth    of   pupils,    46, 

362. 
of  teacher,  360. 
Intellectual     philosophy,     teacher's 

need  of,  88. 
Interest  in  study,  1 55-1 81. 
Interruptions,  260-263. 
Irritability,  from  lack  of  sleep,  290. 


Johnson,  Dr.,  quoted,  76. 
Journals,  school,  their  value,  35. 
to  be  kept  by  teacher,  308. 


Kant,  quoted,  107. 
Kindness  to  pupils,  335. 
Knowledge,     100,     178,    303,    304, 

365- 

certain,  338. 

desire  for,  176,  178,  180. 

important  step  to,  57. 

not  an  end,  100. 

not  education,  100. 

self,  361. 

unsafe,  98. 


INDEX 


377 


Lalor,  works  on  education,  307. 
Lancasterian  schools,  150. 
Language,    accuracy     necessary    in 
teachers,  144. 

philosophy  of,  84. 

purity  of,  71. 
Latin,  value  of  study,  82. 
"Leading"  questions,  114. 
Lectures,  faults  of,  314. 
"  Lectures  of  American  Institute  of 

Instruction,"  307. 
Leibniz,  quoted,  107. 
Lessons,  assignment  of,  266-269. 

short  at  first,  267. 
Levity,  to  be  avoided,  183. 
Liberal  education,  103. 
Library,  teachers',  306. 
Light,  value  of,  289,  290. 
Literary  qualifications  of  the  teacher, 

78-94. 
Locke,  John,  quoted,  67,  107. 
Logic,  need  of,  88. 
Luther,  Martin,  quoted,  90. 

M 

Mann,  Horace,  familiarity  with,  34. 

quoted,  81,  87,  106,  107,  145,  177. 

teachings  of,  99. 

"  Common  School  Journal,"  307. 

"  Lectures,"  307. 

"  Secretary's  Reports,"  307. 
Maps,  value  of,  47. 
Marion,  quoted,  108. 
Mechanical  habits  of  study,  49,  50. 
Memoriter  exercises,  270. 
Mental  Arithmetic,  a  primary  study, 

46. 

teacher's  mastery  of,  8^- 
Methodology,  defined,  34. 

of  use  to  the  teacher,  34. 
Methods,  34,  1 10-135,  140,  311,  312. 

patent,  333. 


Milton,  John,  as  a  teacher,  99,  366. 

quoted,  105. 
Mind,  crime  of  misleading,  24,  53, 
98,  102,  114,  178,  248. 

development  of,  140,  177. 

dignity  of,  23,  98,  176,  177,  364. 

not  a  passive  recipient,  1 1 3. 

reached  through  body,  209. 
Miscellaneous  suggestions,  320-357. 
Models,  servile  imitation  of,  316. 

use  of,  259. 
Modesty,  in  pupils,  282. 
Montaigne,  quoted,  105,  107. 
Morality,  43,  51,  98,  101,  173,  177, 
191. 

how  developed,  52,  100,  337,  346- 
354,  361. 
Moral  philosophy,  need  of,  88. 
Moral  principle,  in  teachers,  191. 
Moroseness  to  be  avoided,  183,  339. 
Motives,  155,  173-180,  188. 

higher,  241. 

in  punishment,  207,  2 1 7. 

of  teaching,  21-24. 

proper,  362. 
Music,  as  recreation,  295. 

value  of,  199. 
Mutual  aid,  309-317. 
Mutual  visitation  of  teachers,  310, 
3ii. 

N 

Natural  history,  value  to  teacher,  91. 
Natural  order,  140. 
Natural  philosophy,  teacher's  mas- 
tery of,  85. 
Neatness,  lessons  in,  335. 

need  of,  68. 
Neck,  overprotection  of,  295. 
Neglect,  of  education,  43. 
Nervousness,  from  lack  of  sleep,  290. 
"  Nibblings  "  at  knowledge,  258. 
Normal  schools,  limitations  of,  36. 

value  of,  301. 


378 


INDEX 


Obedience,  pupil's,  182. 

Object  lesson,  on  corn   and  seeds, 

121-131. 
Observation,  50,  127,  1 31-133. 
Olmsted,  Professor,  quoted,  338. 
Oral  instruction,  310. 
Oral  mania,  33. 
Order,  70,  182,  192,  203,  205,  352. 

of  nature,  140. 

of  study,  46,  64. 
Organization,  249. 
Orthography,    teacher's    knowledge 

of,  79. 
Overgovernment,  202. 


Page,  D.  P.,  biographical  sketch  of, 
11-19. 

boyhood,  II. 

call  to  Albany,  13. 

characterization  of,  16. 

country  school-teacher,  12. 

crisis  in  life,  II. 

death  of,  16. 

friendship  for  Horace  Mann,  14. 

growing  school-teacher,  13. 

lesson  of  his  life,  17. 

private  school-teacher,  12. 

reasons  for  success,  17. 

resources  of,  15. 

schoolboy,  12. 

solves  a  difficult  problem,  14. 

success  of,  16. 

table  of  chronology,  20. 

teacher  student,  12. 

topical  outline,  19. 
Pain,  bodily,  237. 

Palmer's  "Teacher's  Manual,"  306. 
Parents,  208,  368. 

acquaintance  with,  249,  278. 

benefited,  132. 

explanations  to,  279.  . 


Parents,  folly  of,  232,  328. 

gratitude  of,  364. 

moral  influence  of,  56,  228. 

mutual  duties  with,  200,  328. 

responsibility  of,  44,  208,  225. 

teacher's  relation  to,  277-283. 
Parker,  quoted,  105. 
Partiality  for  studies,  333. 
"  Patent  methods,"  333. 
Patience  with  parents,  328. 
Patrick,  quoted,  138. 
Paul,  St.,  quoted,  371. 
Pay  of  teachers,  299,  358. 

how  to  increase,  302,  303. 
Payne,  Dr.,  familiarity  with,  34. 
Payne,  Joseph,  quoted,  106,  no. 
Pear  tree,  neglected,  41-43. 
Pedagogical    books,    recommended, 

319. 
Pedagogy,  a  necessary  study,  33. 
Peevishness,  evil  of  habit,  184. 
Periodical  reviews,  268,  269. 
Personal  habits  of  the  teacher,  67-77. 
Pestalozzi,  a  teacher,  366. 

quoted,  21. 
Physiology,  reviews  in,  269. 

teacher's  mastery  of,  86. 
Plagiarism,  337. 
Plan,  need  of,  247,  249. 

of  day's  work,  252,  254,  256. 
Plane   trigonometry,  teacher's   mas- 
tery of,  85. 
Plato,  a  teacher,  366. 

his  ideal  of  the  cultured  man,  37. 

quoted,  104,  107. 
Pleasantness  of  countenance,  339. 
Plutarch,  quoted,  106. 
Politeness,  need  of,  70,  71. 
Potter,  Bishop,  quoted,  199. 

teachings  of,  99. 
Potter  and  Emerson's  "School  and 

Schoolmaster,"  306. 
Pouring-in  process,  112-114. 
Precept  of  the  teacher,  51. 
Prejudice,  caution  against,  320. 


INDEX 


379 


Press  as  promoter  of  education,  312. 
Principle,  necessary  in  a  teacher,  53. 
Privileges,  loss  of,  219. 
Prizes,  162-172. 

bad  influence  of,  171. 

difficulties  of  award,  166. 

improper  motives  for,  164. 

injustice  in  awards,  167,  168. 

objections  to,  163,  164,  165. 

reward  success,  not  effort,  169. 
Profession  of  teaching,  state  of,  299. 

teacher's  relation  to,  299-319. 
Professional  feeling,  314. 
Professional  readings,  306. 
Programme,  of  a  day's  work,  256. 
Progress,  slow,  267. 
Promptitude  in  recitations,  149. 
Proper  incentives  to  study,  173-180. 
Proportion,  distinguished  from  ratio, 
144. 

Page's  difficulty  with,  148. 
Psychology,  an  aid  to  the  teacher,  32. 
Public  examinations,  269-273. 
Punctuality,  need  of,  72. 

of  teacher,  305. 
Punishment,  207-223. 

corporal,  223-235. 

defined,  207. 

disciplinary,  238. 

improper,  210. 

instruments  of,  237. 

proper,  219. 

two  classes  of,  209. 
Pupils,  examinations,  269. 

punishment  of,  208. 

self-respect  of,  267. 

success  of,  363. 

talented,  258. 

treatment  of,  188. 

vicious,  226,  233. 


Qualifications  of  teacher,  78-94. 
Question,  misuse  of  term,  144. 


Quintilian,  quoted,  26. 

Quiz,  62,  75,  151,  153,318. 

Quotations,  21,  24,  26,  40,  51,  54,  66, 
67>  76,  77>  78,  94,  95,  io3>  104, 
105, 106, 107,  no,  138, 155, 182, 
194,  213,  247,  277,  285, 295, 299, 
310,  320,  334,  349,  353, 358, 367. 

R 

Rashness,  defined,  29. 
Ratio  and  proportion,  144. 
Reading,  a  first  study,  46. 

defects  in,  80,  81. 

teacher's  mastery  of,  80. 
Reading  circles,  92. 
Readings,  39,  77,  298,  306,  307,  318, 

319. 
Recesses,  263-266. 

duration  of,  264. 

hour  for,  265. 
Recitations,  concert,  330. 

conducting  of,  1 38-154. 

forms  of,  152. 

in  classes,  258. 

promptitude  and  accuracy  in,  149. 

simultaneous,  150. 
Recreation,  305. 
Registers  of  credits,  201. 
Religious  impression,  346. 
Religious  training,  54,  55. 
Remembrance  of  pupils,  366. 
Reproof,  delay  of,  337. 

distinguished  from  reproach*  219. 
Resolutions,  futility  of,  240. 
Respect  for  property,  336. 

precedes  attachment,  192. 
Responsibility  of  the  teacher,  40-66. 
Restraint,  as  a  punishment,  220. 
Revenge,  207. 
Reviews,  benefits  of,  268. 

general,  269. 

in  geography,  268. 

in  natural  philosophy,  268. 

periodical,  268,  269. 


38o 


INDEX 


Rewards,  distinguished  from  prizes, 

163. 

not  necessary,  172. 

of  God,  170,  371. 

of  teacher,  300,  358-372. 

value  of,  172. 
Rhetoric,  need  of,  $>%. 
Richter,  quoted,  105. 
Ridicule,  to  be  avoided,  216. 
Right  modes  of  teaching,  110-137. 
Right  views  of  education,  95-109. 
Rod,  223. 

a  last  resort,  231,  234,  239. 

substitutes  for,  231-234. 
Rosenkranz,  quoted,  105. 
Routine,  to  be  avoided,  146. 
Rowing,  good  exercise,  288. 
Rule  of  right,  supreme,  198. 
Rule   of   Three,   Page's   experience 

with,  148. 
Rules  should  be  few,  195-198. 
Ruskin,  John,  quoted,  95,  105,  108. 


Sarcasm,  to  be  avoided,  27. 
Sawing,  a  good  exercise,  289. 
Scholars,  classification  of,  254. 

good  and  poor,  101,  102. 

morals  of,  52. 

politeness  of,  71. 

recitations  of,  267. 

the  best,  165. 
Scholarship,  need  ol,  30,  101,  139, 

267. 
School  arrangements,  247-276. 
School  government,  182-246. 
School,  ideal,  242. 
Schoolhouse,  orderly,  335. 
Scolding,  evils  of,  211. 
Sectarianism,  to  be  avoided,  55. 
Seeds,  lesson  on,  127-131. 
Self-confidence,  value  of,  186. 
Self-control,  a  duty,  341. 

need  of,  28. 


Self-culture,  303-309. 

Self-government,  182. 

Self-sufficiency,  317. 

Seneca,  a  teacher,  366. 

Sense,  need  of,  27. 

Sensibility,  wounding  of,  327. 

Servile  imitation,  316. 

Shakespeare,  quoted,  51. 

Shame,  appeal  to,  208. 

Simultaneous  recitation,  150. 

Singing,  199,  200,  353. 

Sitting  on  nothing,  215. 

Sketch  of  Page's  life,  11-20. 

Skimming,  266. 

Sleep,  need  of,  286,  290. 

Snappishness,  habit  of,  184. 

Social  duties  of  teacher,  277,  294. 

Socrates,  a  teacher,  366. 

Solitary  confinement,  disadvantages 

of,  231. 
Solomon,  quoted,  340. 
Spalding,  quoted,  76. 
Spelling,  a  first  study,  46. 
Spencer,  quoted,  105,.  106. 
Spirit  of  the  teacher,  21-25. 
Splitting  wood,  289. 
Stagnation  of  teachers,  306. 
Steele,  J.  Dorman,  242. 
Stern,  quoted,  103. 
Stimulants  to  study,  178,  179. 
Studies,  collateral,  50,  91,  307. 

direction  of,  322. 

habits  of,  74. 

interest  in,  155-180. 

names  of,  49. 

order  of,  46,  64,  254-256. 

professional,  304,  319. 

sequence  of,  322. 
Subjects  for  discussion  or  essays,  25, 
109,   137*   *54f    181,    246,    276, 
284,  297. 
Suggestions,  miscellaneous,  320-357. 
Sums,  misuse  of  term,  144. 
Sunshine,  287. 
Suspicious  spirit,  to  be  avoided,  193. 


INDEX 


381 


Swaddling  of  neck,  297. 
Swett,  quoted,  106. 
Sympathy,  need  of,  28. 
Systematic  study,  307. 


Tact,  defined,  28. 
Tasks,  as  punishments,  221. 
Taylor,  J.  O.,  "  District  School,"  307. 
Teacher,  accomplished,  139. 

attainments  of,  79-90,  97,  139,  299, 
312,  37*' 

benefited,  132. 

care  of  health,  285-298. 

diet  of,  286-297. 

duty  to  community,  67,  96,   200, 
302,  312. 

duty  to  pupils,  166,  185,  248,  325. 

example  of,  304. 

exercise  of,  286-297. 

fitness  to  teach,  26-39. 

frankness  of,  281. 

friend  of  pupil,  334. 

government  of,  182,  227. 

honesty  of,  271,  273. 

improvement  of,  371. 

literary  qualifications  of,  78-94. 

motives  of,  22,  54,  98,  334,  360. 

pay  of,  299-303,  358,  359. 

personal  habits  of,  67-77. 

punctuality  of,  305. 

purity  of,  51. 

relation    to    profession,    299-319, 

334,  37'' 
relation  to  parents,  277-284. 
responsibility  of,  24,  40-66,   166, 

174,  248,  360. 
rewards  of,  358-372. 
self-denial  of,  302. 
social  duties  of,  277,  294. 
spirit   of,    21-25,    145,    250,    309, 

334- 
temptations  of,  133,  304,  306,  309, 
317,  324,  325,  327,  328,  340.      .. 


Teachers'  Associations,  312. 
Teachers'  Institutes,  312. 
Teaching,  art  of,  362. 

emolument  for,  299-303. 

fitness  for,  26-36,  139. 

improvement  in,  362. 

mechanical,  142. 

modes  of,  1 10-137. 

practical,  313,  320. 

profession  of,  299-317. 

science  of,  140. 

secondary  object,  23,  98,  140. 

works  on,  306. 
Temple,  Dr.,  quoted,  1 10. 
Tetlow,  John,  quoted,  94. 
Text -book,  independence  of,  in  class, 

141. 
Thoroughness,  324,  361. 
Threatening,  198,  211,  231. 
Thunderstorm,  its  lesson,  347-349. 
"Time  for  everything,"  262. 
Tobacco,  evils  of  habit,  69. 
Topical    Outlines,    19,    25,   37,   92, 
108,    135,   180,   242,   273,    283, 

297,  355,  372. 
Topical  Quiz,  62,  151,  318. 
Torture,  to  be  avoided,  213. 
Training,  mental,  46. 

moral,  51,  176. 

physical,  45. 

religious,  54. 
Trigonometry,  teacher's  mastery  of, 

85- 

Tyranny,  evils  of,  186. 

U 
Uniformity,  value  of,  in  government, 

187. 

Usefulness  of  teacher,  364. 


Vandalism,  335,  336. 
Views  of  education,  95-109. 


382 


INDEX 


Views  of  government,  186-189. 
Visits,  of  parents,  280. 

of  teacher,  200,  201,  250,  251. 
Vocal  music,  199. 
Vocation,  of  teacher,  360-371. 

W 

Waking  up  mind,  1 20-1 31,  198,  199. 
Walking,  a  good  exercise,  287. 
Water,  free  use  of,  290. 
Wayland,  teachings  of,  99. 
Wellington,  Duke,  quoted,  76. 
Whipping,  231,  235. 
Whispering,     between     recitations, 
263. 


White,  E.  E.,  quoted,  76. 
Woodward,  Dr.,  quoted,  87. 
Word  analysis,  82. 
Worship  in  prison,  60,  61. 
Writing,  a  primary  study,  48. 

legibility  of,  82. 
Written  Arithmetic,  study  of,  48. 

teacher's  mastery  of,  83. 
Written  exercises,  64,  357. 
Wyse,  teachings  of,  99. 

writings  on  education,  307. 


Young,  Colonel,  quoted,  86. 
Young,  Dr.,  quoted,  310. 


TYPOGRAPHY  BY  J.   S.   CUSHING  A  CO.,  NORWOOD,   MASS. 


Books   for   Teachers 


FOR  THE  STUDY  OF   PEDAGOGY 
,    Calkins 's  Manual  of  Object  Teaching 
Hailmann's  History  of  Pedagogy 
Hewett's  Pedagogy  for  Young  Teachers 
How  to  Teach  (Kiddle,  Harrison,  and  Calkins) 
King's  School  Interests  and  Duties 
Kriisi's  Life  and  Work  of  Pestalozzi 
Mann's  School  Recreations  and  Amusements 
Page's  Theory  and  Practice  of  Teaching 
Palmer's  Science  of  Education 
Payne's  School  Supervision 
Payne's  Contributions  to  the  Science  of  Education 
Sheldon's  Lessons  on  Objects 
Shoup's  History  and  Science  of  Education    . 
Swett's  Methods  of  Teaching 
White's  Elements  of  Pedagogy     . 
White's  School  Management 

FOR  THE  STUDY  OF   PSYCHOLOGY 

Halleck's  Psychology  and  Psychic  Culture     . 
Hewett's  Psychology  for  Young  Teachers     . 
Putnam's  Elementary  Psychology 
Roark's  Psychology  in  Education 

FOR  THE  TEACHER'S  DESK 

Schaeffer's  Bible  Readings  for  Schools 

Eclectic  Manual  of  Methods 

Swett's  Questions  for  Written  Examination 

Appletons'  How  to  Teach  Writing 

Morris's  Physical  Education 

Smart's  Manual  of  School  Gymnastics 

White's  Oral  Lessons  in  Number 

Dubbs's  Arithmetical  Problems.     Teachers'  Edition 

Doerner's  Treasury  of  General  Knowledge.     Part  I. 

The  Same.     Part  II.      . 
Webster's  Academic  Dictionary.     New  Edition. 


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fi6) 


Seeley's  History  of  Education 

By  Dr.   LEVI  SEELEY 
Professor  of  Pedagogy,  State  Normal  School,  Trenton,  N.  J. 

Cloth,  i2mo,  350  pages.     Price,  $1.25 


Nearly  400,000  active  teachers  in  the  United  States 
are  required  to  pass  an  examination  in  the  History  of 
Education.  Normal  schools,  and  colleges  with  peda- 
gogical departments  lay  particular  stress  upon  this  sub- 
ject and  the  Superintendents  of  Education  in  most  states, 
counties,  and  cities,  now  expect  their  teachers  to  possess  a 
knowledge  of  it. 

This  book  is  not  based  on  theory,  but  is  the  practical 
outgrowth  of  Dr.  Seeley's  own  class-work  after  years  of 
trial.  It  is  therefore  a  working  book,  plain,  comprehen- 
sive, accurate,  and  sufficient  in  itself  to  furnish  all  the 
material  on  the  subject  required  by  any  examining  board, 
or  that  may  be  demanded  in  a  normal  or  college  course. 

It  arranges  the  material  in  such  a  manner  as' to  appeal 
to  the  student  and  assist  him  to  grasp  and  remember 
the  subject. 

It  gives  a  concise  summary  of  each  system  discussed, 
pointing  out  the  most  important  lessons. 

It  lays  stress  upon  the  development  of  education, 
showing  the  steps  of  progress  from  period  to  period. 

It  begins  the  study  of  each  educational  system  or 
period  with  an  examination  of  the  environment  of  the 
people,  their  history,  geography,  home  conditions,  etc. 

It  gives  a  biographical  sketch  of  the  leading  edu- 
cators, and  their  systems  of  pedagogy,  including  those  of 
Horace  Mann  and  Herbart. 

It  treats  of  the  systems  of  education  of  Germany, 
France,  England,  and  the  United  States,  bringing  the 
study  of  education  down  to  the  present  time. 

It  furnishes  the  literature  of  each  subject  and  gives 
an  extensive  general  bibliography  of  works  for  reference. 


Copies  of  Seeley's-  History  of  Education    will  be  sent,  prepaid,    to  any 
address  on  receipt  of  the  price  by  the  Publishers  : 

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